Backup Lovers
by Vywien is me
Summary: Manager Sakura Kinomoto and new chef Syaoran Li team up to help each other gain their true love's heart. But during their journey, they find that true love is unexpected.. SxS Based on Hong Kong movie: It had to be you. R&R FIN! :D
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't think I have to go through this again..

Mmm I watched the movie "It had to be you" on the airplane flight from Taiwan back here so I think it'd be cute if I based an SxS fic off of it. :D

- Scene Change -

'_thoughts_'

(I had to reupload the first 1 or 2 chapters because I wanted to change some stuff. XP Sorries.)

-.-.-

"My order finally came!"

A girl with short auburn hair and emerald eyes was holding a package she had gotten in the mail.

"Look Ichiro!" She opened the package and held up a red toothbrush still in its cover. It had a Hello Kitty image on the handle. "It's something brand new that they came up with here in Japan. You can't get it anywhere else! Oh, and here's your breakfast."

A man with black hair and blue eyes laughed.

"Thanks, Sakura," he said, taking his plate of toast from her and kissing her on the cheek. "Did you make some coffee?"

"It's brewing," Sakura snapped, then beamed and walked into the bathroom while taking her new toothbrush out. She put her toothbrush with her old one and marveled at it. She smiled, grabbed her new toothbrush and toothpaste, and started to finally brush her teeth.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang while Sakura was just about to rinse.

"Mmmph!" Sakura cried running out to Ichiro, her mouth full of foam.

"I'll save the toothbrush for you, just go now!" Ichiro whispered as he handed Sakura her bag, grabbed her toothbrush, and hid it in the first place he could find – under the sofa.

After Sakura quickly rinsed, she grabbed a long, light pink scarf with tiny sakura blossoms scattered on it and headed out her back door just as she heard the front door open and Ichiro saying "Hey Mamoru, you're early."

- Outside -

"I hate this feeling," Sakura said to herself while still adjusting her scarf, "But then...it's not like I didn't know he already had a girlfriend. Hmm...But I know things will go well if I just believe. And then, I will be his _only_ one."

She smiled, and that steadied her. Determined, she whispered to herself, "Faith...Perseverance."

As she turned a corner she gasped in surprise as she nearly crashed into someone if she had not stopped. It was a handsome chocolate haired man with amber eyes. He, too, was a bit thrown back in surprise but kept going after pausing to apologize.

Behind him was a woman in a blue uniform, dragging a brown suitcase. Sakura guessed she was an air-hostess.

"Syaoran, wait!" She cried.

But the man kept going. The air-hostess followed him and soon they were both out of Sakura's way. Sakura stared after them with narrowed eyes.

"Che, what a pimp. It's funny how much women let their boyfriends get away with." Sakura shook her head and continued walking. "I hate how people like him think they can get any girl they want. We're not freaking _items_. Geez."

Sakura stopped in front of a big restaurant with the words "Su-pa kukku" and walked in. She was greeted by many cooks on her way into the kitchen.

"Hey, Sakura!"

"Hey, Chiharu," Sakura said greeted as she passed a cook with brown hair up in pigtails.

She, Sakura Kinomoto, was manager. And she loved it.

- At Night -

There was a party at their restaurant that night and Sakura was introducing the special meals and side orders to a large group of people sitting at a big table chatting vigorously.

"...Chicken soup with garlic bread or tomatoes..." Sakura looked over at the door that just opened and saw Ichiro walking in. As he passed her, his hands glided over hers and he sat down next to a pretty red haired girl, Mamoru and kissed her cheek.

"Um...did I mention the tomatoes?" Sakura asked them, earning laughs from them all.

"Yeah, you did."

"Oh, Sakura, you're so silly!"

- Kitchen -

"Be careful, Sakura!" A man with sapphire eyes and blue hair yelled as Sakura strode out of the kitchen carrying a small cake. Sakura held her hand in front of the single candle on the cake so that it wouldn't blow it out before she got to the big table.

"Don't worry, Eriol, I've got it!" Sakura called back.

She walked over to the big table and set the cake down in front of a blond haired woman who gasped in surprise at the sight of the cake mumbling "Thank you, thank you!" A violin player started playing a Romantic piece.

"Now make a wish," Sakura smiled as the melodic music from the violin filled the room.

"Wait, Yuuhi." Mamoru spoke up. "I just want to say: Thank you for being a great friend and your hair looks fabulous tonight. Happy birthday!"

"And I want to thank you for arranging this party. It must have been pretty tough! But your hard work really pays off," Yuuhi said, smiling at her.

She closed her eyes, bit her bottom lip, then opened her eyes again and blew the candle out. There were shouts of "yay"'s and "congratulations" through the applause they gave her. Sakura clapped her hands until they went numb.

"Now hurry up and get yourself a man," Mamoru teased.

"No. _Just_ looking for a man is too easy. I want one who will compete with me... Someone who is my perfect match."

"It's not that easy in the first place. It's hard to find a man who will truly love you. It's hard to be the only one in their hearts...they just flirt around." Mamoru replied. "Isn't that right Ichiro?"

The table was now filled with "Ooohs" and "Oh, really?" as Mamoru nudged Ichiro hard in the stomach.

Ichiro smiled.

"Say, Sakura, why don't you join us!" Yuuhi offered, saving Ichiro from the embarrassment, and the table all agreed.

"Yeah, why not?"

"We'd love it if you did!"

"No, I have to go make some coffee," said Sakura, smiling. She turned from the table and ran into the violin player. Well, at least better than the actual violin, which ran into her right eye. Her hand shot up to her eye and she held it in pain as she braced herself from yelping.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Ichiro asked.

"Itai...yeah...I'm fine," Sakura winced, trying to smile.

- Kitchen -

A bottle of cream in her hands, right eye still shut from pain, Sakura closed the refrigerator door and almost ran into a familiar man with messy brown hair.

"Hmm? Who are you? What are you doing here?" She asked, slightly out of it. He wasn't wearing a cook uniform or anything of the sort.

"I'm here to see Eriol," He said.

"Oi, Sakura! What's wrong with your eye?" Eriol asked. "Hmm, let me guess...you're pretending to be a Cyclops? Nah, Captain Hook!"

"Shut up, Eriol, it really hurt!" Sakura whined.

Eriol laughed and said, "Oh yeah, Sakura, did I introduce you to him?"

He pointed at the familiar man.

"Um...no," Sakura said.

"Well, okay, this is Li Syaoran. He'll be taking my place after I retire. He's a really good cook, mind you. And Syaoran, this is Kinomoto Sakura," Eriol happily said.

"Huh? Oh! You're that..." Sakura pointed at him gasping, remembering the incident earlier that day. "Ugh." She turned and left to make coffee.

"Uhh...did I do something? What's wrong with her?" Syaoran asked.

"She's been sick lately. With a virus called: Love," Eriol answered and everyone else around him laughed and shook their heads, some muttering "Poor Sakura."

"Strange Sakura. That's her. Let me introduce you to someone _much_ more normal." Eriold turned to the refrigerator, opened it, and took out an apple. "This is Apple. Very pretty, isn't she? Or maybe you would like to meet Orange instead."

He dug through the refrigerator for an orange and placed both the apple and the orange in Syaoran's hands. "They're pure, haven't been harassed or anything. Anyway, you'll find it more productive having a _normal_ conversation with Apple or Orange than talking to Sakura."

In a few minutes, Sakura left the kitchen with a tray of cups filled with coffee. She arrived at the big table and served them.

"So you and Ichiro have been dating for a year already..." Sakura heard Yuuhi say to Mamoru. "Why not get married?"

"Yeah!"

"Have you ever considered—"

"I'm surprised you two aren't!"

Mamoru smirked. "Pfft. I'm actually considering to dump him."

Ichiro looked at her, hoping she was joking.

"It's not a joke," Mamoru said as if reading his mind. "I'm tired of this. I want to be a girlfriend, not a watch dog."

She glared at a stunned Ichiro. He looked extremely confused, hurt, and taken aback.

Sakura on the other hand, was trying hard to contain her happiness and hurried back into the kitchen in case she started laughing in front of them.

She put the tray beside the sink and looked as if she was about to dance. She started making gestures to her fellow confused cooks.

"Oh, it's charades!" Eriol exclaimed and they all looked at Sakura.

She held up ten fingers – ten words. Just a short phrase. She only needed to signal about two words before they _should_ get it. Then she made flashing movements with her hands, indicating light.

"Rain man?"

"Camera!"

But Sakura kept shaking her head.

"Sprinkles!"

Sakura groaned, knowing they might never guess that part and moved onto the next few words. Her hands was making a—

"Rainbow!"

"Upside down 'U'!"

"Arc!"

"Ooh, ooh! Bridge!"

"Hey! That's what **_I_** was gonna say!"

Since none of them could get it, Eriol spoke up. "She's saying that there is a light at the end of every tunnel."

"Yes, Eriol!" Sakura cried happily. "Ohhh, I thought she'd never leave him!"

"Well, maybe it's a trap for you to come out into the light. Remember, there's a light at the end of every tunnel, just pray that it's not a train."

Everyone laughed at Eriol's joke and were now congratulating Sakura.

"Hey!" interrupted a black haired boy (Takashi), trying to catch their attention. "Syaoran's doing that Ice Mountain on Fire thing! Let's go watch!"

Excitement filled the air as everyone rushed to the kitchen door and peeked at Syaoran performing his trick. The Ice Mountain on Fire was simply a tiny cake which would still retain its shape, form, and temperature as long as it is not on fire for more than thirty seconds.

Syaoran was standing in front of the big table. He set a plate of a very small cake in front of the birthday girl, Yuuhi, and took out a lighter. He lit the cake on fire while everyone on the table gasped.

"Someone blow it out! Quick!" Syaoran ordered.

The whole table extended their necks and blew the huge fire out. Everyone cheered, even the cooks. Everyone but Sakura.

"Lighten up, Sakura," Eriol said, seeing her glaring eyes. "You'll have to get used to him since he's going to take my place after I retire. He's really not that bad, you know..."

She half-smiled.

-.-.-

Short, huh? Well, it'll get exciting. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** No more of this. I don't. own. it.

- **Scene Change** -

'_thoughts._'

-.-.-.-.-

"_Life without love is like eating the French fries without the ketchup."_

-.-.-.-.-

After the restaurant closed, she decided to walk her dog, Kero, which she always did after her work ended for the day. Now Kero was indeed a unique dog. She grabbed a leash in her room from the floor but instead of calling for Kero to come, she tied a collar she had to the leash.

"C'mon, Kero! Let's go!" Sakura chirped.

Kero was an imaginary dog. But of course that made him very special. It also made Sakura look crazy as she was strolling down the streets holding up a leash and walking an invisible dog. But she never cared, as long as she was happy with what she was doing at the moment.

"People do crazy things when they're in love, ne Kero?" Sakura then sighed. "Ichiro still hasn't called me. But then...he _just_ got dumped in front of all his friends. Guess I can't exactly blame him. Hmm, no one should. That must have been pretty hard for him."

A taxi cab came to a halt at the street across from Sakura. She saw the back door of the car that was facing her open and Syaoran came out. The air-hostess she had seen earlier was grabbing his arm and saying something. Her brown-red hair was blown around her golden eyes as the wind howled. When Syaoran strangled out of her grasp, he walked across the street and was nearing Sakura. The air-hostess left the door open and was about to get out when the taxi driver asked, "Are you going in or out?"

"Oh, ano...in, sir," She answered and got back into the car with the door closing behind her.

Syaoran was strolling lazily and was about to walk right pass Sakura when he suddenly noticed her there.

"Funny running into you," Syaoran said.

"Unfortunate for me." Sakura glared at him.

"What is it with you? Why do you hate me so?" Syaoran asked, glaring back. (A/N: I think the word "glare" is really overused...I'm finding as many substitutes as possible. XP If only I wasn't lazy.)

"Che, funny you should ask," Sakura snorted. "You're that type of guy who think they can get any girl they want because of your good looks. I can just see that."

"Ahh, typical girl."

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean!" Sakura asked, her right eyebrow raised, hands on her hips as she leaned over and inspected Syaoran carefully.

"You see what you _want_ to see."

"Whatever, how would you know what I wanted to see?" Sakura said rolling her eyes. "Go bite him, Kero!"

She thrust her leash in front of her so that the dog would be jumping on Syaoran if he was real. Upon hearing "bite him," Syaoran knocked into the floor as Sakura's leash was thrust toward him.

Squirming around on the sidewalk, he was shouting with his eyes tightly shut: "Argh, what are you doing! Get him off me! Help! Someone!"

He heard Sakura laughing. Something about that laugh was weird... So he stopped squirming and looked up. There was no dog. Just a leash attached to the collar. No wonder she wasn't laughing _that_ evilly. He got up quickly, rolled his eyes, "hmph"-ed, and walked away fixing his jacket.

"Oh, good job, Kero!" Sakura patted her invisible dog. "You deserve and extra treat when we get home."

After walking her dog, Sakura decided to go see her best friend Rika. Rika had short brown hair and matching eyes and was pregnant. Sakura was the incoming baby's godmother.

Safely in Rika's house, she poured her some tea and they both sat down on the couch to talk. Sakura kept checking her phone every now and then in case Ichiro messaged her. Rika stared at her for a longer time as she did this for about the umpteenth time.

"Sakura...it's not gonna do any good to just keep looking at it," Rika said.

"I know...I'm just checking for messages." Sakura frowned.

"In Japan, there's a couple thousand messages sent every minute...if you didn't get one, he's not thinking about you, so please stop checking it every freaking second!"

"Well...I suppose. I mean, he just got dumped in front of all his friends. Wouldn't you be sad if that happened to you?" Sakura looked at Rika with sad eyes.

"Aiyah, honey," Rika said looking at and rubbing her stomach, "Your Godmother is crazy!"

"Rika..." Sakura frowned at her.

"Okay, he went out with Mamoru for five years and look how things ended up! What does that tell you?"

"Nothing..."

"So you're his girlfriend, right?"

"Of course," Sakura said, wide-eyed.

"But, _nobody_ knows, right?"

"Well, that's the understanding I have with Ichiro. I'm also the only one who understands how much he values privacy. Thus, he gave me a set of his house keys. Hmm, I'm gonna go right now to drop of this cake I made. See you later, Rika!"

Sakura jumped up from the couch and left the room.

"Where's the Sakura I love?" Rika sighed.

- **Ichiro's house** -

Sakura fitted her spare of the keys into the lock and turned it with a click. She opened the door to find it completely deserted. The first thing she wanted to do was to retrieve her Hello Kitty toothbrush.

She stepped into the restroom and opened a cupboard above the sink.

"Hoe? Where's my Hello Kitty?" Sakura frowned. "Eh, I'll just ask Ichiro about it later."

Sakura walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and stuffed a box inside it. She'd call Ichiro about what she did tonight later.

- **The Next Day** -

Sakura woke up early the following day—early as in 5:00 AM—and hurried to the restaurant after quickly throwing on some clothes and brushing her teeth as if she was a crazy machine malfunctioning. She had almost forgotten about the meeting and was running late.

"Hoe! I'm the manager! I can't be late!" She yelled to herself as she ran down the sidewalk like there was no tomorrow. When she entered the sliding doors of the restaurant, she leaned against the wall for support and was panting hard.

"I'm...here!" Sakura breathed, gasping for air.

"_Finally_, Sakura!" A cook named Naoko said.

"Eheheh...sorry to keep you guys waiting!" Sakura smiled sheepishly. She walked to where her seat was—at the front of the table—and sat down. "So, what did I miss?"

"You didn't miss much. Errmm, nothing that you would have protested against anyways," Takashi said. "So yeah, let's continue. Syaoran was about to say something before you arrived."

Sakura seemed pleased with herself for interrupting him. "Well, go on now."

"I was asking how many people actually order the rice with duck blood because if not, I'm sure we can take that off the menu." Syaoran looked at those words with disgust as he held up the menu. But who could blame him? It wasn't a popular meal, obviously...though all the other cooks' eyes widened at his request. They looked extremely scared and shot their eyes at Sakura, as if expecting her to explode.

"Rice with duck blood...those who have taste love it though! An—and those who don't...well TOO BAD FOR THEM!" Sakura suddenly shouted, glaring at Syaoran. She was no doubt furious at him for bringing up such an idea. "Well, if there's no more complaints, this meeting's over. I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee."

Sakura got up from her seat angrily and stormed into the kitchen.

"What's she so angry about? It's not a popular meal..." Syaoran started to say.

"It's because that dish is the only reason her boyfriend ever comes," Eriol answered.

"I can't believe you asked to take it off the menu!" Chiharu's eyes were still wide with shock.

- **Kitchen** -

Sakura was making a cup of coffee for herself like she said she would since there was still about two hours before the restaurant actually opened to customers. She heard voices talking excitedly outside and couldn't help but see what everyone was doing.

When she stuck her head out of the kitchen door, she saw something that made her infuriated. She was absolutely fuming. The room looked totally different and Syaoran was putting picture frames all over the place. Everyone else was rearranging the tables.

She rushed up to Eriol and whispered: "Tell him and _everyone_ to arrange this place back to what it was!"

"Why? This is great! I think we can manage to fit two more tables this way," Eriol replied. "There's nothing wrong with extra tables. More room for customers. We'll be having more people, hopefully."

"Pah, _hopefully_. As if. Ugh, make them stop! This is a _restaurant_ not a _photo booth_," Sakura pleaded as Syaoran was taking pictures of them. The cooks were posing in front of his camera with bright grins on their faces.

"Why? He loves taking pictures." Eriol's voice sounded amused as he observed Syaoran walking around with a camera and the rest of the cooks searching for the funniest pose they could find. "This tiramisu is kind of...hard..." Eriol said as he took a bite out of the treat.

"So if he likes taking showers, would you put a bathtub in here?" Sakura angrily asked, her hands on her hips as she rounded on Eriol, glowering at him like mad.

"Hey, not a bad idea, Sakura," Eriol chuckled. "I should ask him about that."

"You—" Sakura started, but Eriol did not find out what he was for her cell phone started to ring.

"Oh!" Sakura jumped as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She quickly took it out and flipped it open (it was a flip phone) and ran over to an empty corner.

"Hello?" Sakura said awkwardly.

"Sakura? Did you drop by my house yesterday?"

"Oh! I forgot to tell you. Um, yeah, I didn't do anything...just left a cake there. HEY! Where's my new toothbrush!"

"I really don't have time to look for it now. What did you put in the cake?" Ichiro's voice sounded quite angry.

"Just the usual..."

"Any nuts? Or something like that?"

"Wow! How'd you know? Yeah...it's kind of my new recipe." Sakura giggled and added, "I put peanut butter."

"Peanut butter! Argh, did you ever think that some people are _allergic_? Well, bye. I have to take Yuuhi to the hospital."

Sakura was frozen to the spot as she heard the click and then the dial tone as Ichiro hung up. She flipped her phone shut and bit her lip. She let her head drop into her hands and she cried out. '_Oh no, Yuuhi's allergic to peanut butter! She never told me that before..._'

Eriol came up to her looking pleased. "Hey, thanks for the idea, Sakura! Tiramisu tastes **_great_** with peanut butter! You should try it next time."

- **Evening; Restaurant** -

Sakura walked out of the kitchen holding a large bottle filled with champagne. She strode over to a small table and was ready to open it when she overheard the next table's words.

"Yuuhi can't come tonight," a woman in a long red dress said as Sakura edged closer to them.

"Why not?" a man asked.

"Oh, her boyfriend fed her a cake with peanut butter in it," the woman said, stifling her giggle. "She's allergic."

'_Boyfriend! Meaning Ichiro! W-what? When was this?_' Sakura thought as her eyes widened. She was brought out of her reverie as the bottle cap of the champagne she was holding suddenly popped out and the liquid was overflowing. '_Oh crap._'

"Uhh, sorry!" Sakura said to the table talking about Yuuhi while smiling sheepishly. She looked around at the other table she was supposed to serve the champagne to, "Umm, uh, Happy Birthday!"

- **Few minutes before the restaurant closed** -

"How do you like the new furniture arrangement, Sakura?" Syaoran asked her as they peered around the room of what seemed like a new place to poor Sakura.

"Grr, don't _even_ ask me about it!" Sakura hissed, scowling, "Why are you going to take Eriol's place? Why _you_? Of all people he could have chosen! He picked you!"

"He made me promise—"

"Nevermind, I'm going to make coffee!" Sakura announced as she threw her hands up in frustration and walked back into the kitchen. Syaoran looked confused and offended as he stared fiercely at the kitchen door.

"Sakura really is a strange one," Eriol said coming up to Syaoran. "Not that you haven't noticed...but when she gets really angry, she tries not to take it out on others. Instead, she releases her anger by making coffee. Interesting but silly girl, ne?"

"Uh, sure..." Syaoran said with one eyebrow raised. '_That explains a lot. No wonder she's always making coffee these days. Angry at me _and_ broken-hearted by her boyfriend, I suppose._'

"Sakura," Eriol called as Sakura reappeared outside the kitchen door holding two cups. "I hope one of them is for me." Eriol beamed at her.

"Oh, sure, take one." Sakura set both cups down on a table and was going back into the kitchen. "I already drank the one I made earlier."

Eriol offered the second cup to Syaoran and they both drank. "The taste might be a bit surprising." Suddenly, they shivered and Syaoran flinched.

"You're right--It's bitter," Syaoran winced.

"That's how she makes her coffee," Eriol explained, "But I guess I'm kind of used to it now. I've been trying to figure out how to drink it so that the taste is at least more appealing. It's supposed to be her secret."

- **Walking the "dog"** -

Sakura stopped a way down from her house before the first street light. She saw two couples in the middle of the street. Happy. Hand in hand. They were talking and pointing at different directions, as if deciding where to go on their date. Sakura looked at them wistfully, jealous of the girl for finding the perfect guy for her. At least who _seemed_ the perfect guy for her. She frowned and looked down as they were deciding. When they finally left she looked up again at the area in which they were standing. She soon saw that another man was standing on the other side of the street: Syaoran Li.

He was also looking forlornly after them as they left and did not notice Sakura until they were out of sight. When he turned his head and saw Sakura, he yelped with surprise—so did Sakura.

"Luck is really against me...I've ran into you two times in two days while walking my dog. Goodbye," Sakura called out to him and she walked ahead, still fixing her fierce emerald eyes on him. Suddenly, a sudden throbbing surged from her forehead down to her very toes and she yelped again, but in pain. She held her hand to her forehead and cursed the metal pole she ran into.

"Itai..."

"Are you okay?" Syaoran asked running up to her.

"Eheheh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Wait... did you just say you were walking your dog?" Syaoran gave her a puzzled look. His eyes glanced at the collar, which was around nothing. "Very funny, Sakura."

"Don't look at Kero that way!" Sakura said and held her leash away from Syaoran's view. "Poor Kero, are you alright?"

"Aww, it's an imaginary puppy! How cute! I've never seen one before," Syaoran teased and he bent down to pet the invisible dog. "I really don't think I'm the only one who looks at him that way..."

"Get away! He doesn't like you!" Sakura snapped.

"Oh no, I think he does," Syaoran said happily. "Good boy, he's really tamed, hm? I bet he can smell who is broken-hearted too."

"Get away!" Sakura tried to pull the leash away but Syaoran kept his grasp.

"Oh, come on. See? He's wagging his tail!" Syaoran exclaimed.

"Why you..."

Suddenly a man from the distance was running to them shouting "Ms. Kinomoto! Ms. Kinomoto!" He seemed to be coming from the direction of her house. Sakura broke out of her trance and looked at the man running towards them. She recognized him immediately as her next door neighbor. He was catching his breath when he caught up to Sakura and was trying hard to speak through his gasping for air.

"What is it?" Sakura asked urgently, seeing his worried face. Her emerald eyes also turned to worry and her eyebrows furrowed. "Did something happen?"

"Y-your house...your mom signaled me to call for you...Oh, Sakura! Just come!"

-.-.-.-.-

Sorry if it's short. x)

You know what I'm craving! **Beef noodle soup**:( The one in Taiwan is _absolutely_ **delicious**...wish I had some now... :(

Or you could just **review**...that would make me a bit happier. :) I'd be much **obliged**, m'dears. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** No possession of CCS whatsoever.

- **Scene Change** -  
'_thoughts_'

'sign language'

-.-.-.-.-

When Sakura ran into her house with Syaoran tagging along, she found that the hallway leading to her bathroom was completely soaked. She looked curiously at the bathroom door which was closed. Apparently, the toilet or bathtub must have flooded the whole hallway. She took off her shoes and socks, walked over to the bathroom door and reached a hand out. When she was about to turn the doorknob, her mom bustled through the hallway with two mops in her hand.

Sakura's mother, Nadeshiko, was a mute. Because of this, Sakura had learned sign language with her mother. Nadeshiko made signs that the toilet plugged and started flooding while Sakura was walking her dog. Her mother then noticed Syaoran at the end of the hallway. If she was not mute, Sakura was sure that she would have squealed in surprise. Sakura wasn't sure how to explain but came up with something quick.

'He's here to help,' Sakura gestured.

'Oh, that's great, Sakura! What a nice friend!' Her mother signaled back.

"Um, Syaoran, you wouldn't mind helping a bit with the plugged toilet would you?" Sakura asked out loud.

Syaoran broke out of the confused look he had earlier when they were talking in sign language. "Um, sure."

"Thanks," Sakura said and bowed her head. Syaoran was a bit surprised she was acting much nicer, but guessed that it was pretty obvious she wouldn't be rude to someone, or anyone for that matter in front of any of her parents. Syaoran nodded and returned a head bow.

Sakura opened the bathroom door, causing a whole flood to splash through. Bathroom slippers and anything of the sort on the bathroom floor were now floating on the water, which was about an inch and a half above the floor. Sakura made a ghastly face at the sight, bit her bottom lip, and after rolling the bottom of her pants up so that they would not get wet she strode around in the inch thick water and was picking up things from the floor. She placed them somewhere dry and ran out of the hall to the garage and quickly came back holding a tool box.

"Um, I hope you know what to do Syaoran," Sakura said as she handed him the box and took one of the mops her mother brought from the kitchen.

"Don't worry," Syaoran said as he also took off his shoes, rolled up the bottom of his jeans, and walked into the bathroom while Sakura ran to get a bucket.

- **30 minutes later** -

'Your friend seems nice,' her mother signaled at her when they were almost done mopping.

Sakura smiled weakly at this comment and signaled, 'I guess so.' She then continued mopping floors without looking up, avoiding her mother's eyes.

After a moment, Syaoran turned around and put all the tools he used back into the box. He stretched for a moment and groaned. "I'm done, Sakura. It was just a loose screw."

Her mother beamed and signaled, 'Will you date my daughter?'

Sakura looked at her mother with an expression mixed with confusion, surprise, and anger. Syaoran looked confused, since he didn't understand sign language at all.

"Oh, um, eheh, my mom says thank you," Sakura said.

"Oh," Syaoran said and smiled at Nadeshiko. "Your welcome."

'Why do you always change my words?' Her mom gestured.

'Stop it mom, he's not my type,' Sakura looked as if she was hiding her anger as best she could, Syaoran thought as he saw her expression. He was looking at both of them perplexed and wondered what they were saying. Sakura signaled to her mother again. 'He's just a co-worker, don't get any ideas.'

'How would you know your type if you keep sticking to one man?' Nadeshiko looked stern when signaling this. 'Do you really want a guy who makes you cry?'

Sakura looked down, lost for words. Nadeshiko held a hand to her cheek and caressed it carefully. She then signaled to her again: 'No man is worth your tears and the one who is won't make you cry.'

Abandoning her mop and leaning it against the wall, Sakura ran into her room, which was next to the bathroom, and shut the door. Nadeshiko ran to the door and started pounding it with an angry face. Syaoran stopped her and made the signal "Shhh."

Syaoran had never learned sign language, obviously, and was trying to tell Nadeshiko that Sakura was broken-hearted. He pointed at the door, made a heart shape with his fingers at his chest and broke it with a cracking sound coming from his mouth that he couldn't help making.

'You've been broken-hearted before, too?' Nadeshiko looked at him with a wonder on her face. She had obviously taken his signal the wrong way.

"Um...Sorry, I really don't understand what you're saying," Syaoran said half-smiling and looking apologetic. He then pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time. "Oh, uh... I should be going soon."

Nadeshiko looked at his cell phone and her face brightly lit up. She took out her own cell phone and held Syaoran back. She was pressing a few buttons and after a few seconds, showed Syaoran her cell phone.

The message on it said, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Heh, err, yeah," Syaoran said uneasily.

She grabbed the cell phone back and erased the previous message. She then typed a second message and handed him the phone again.

"Is she as beautiful as my daughter?"

This was not exactly the conversation Syaoran had expected, but he knew he had to be polite so he said, "Umm," Quickly thinking, "They're both quite attractive." He looked at how Nadeshiko's face fell a bit and he hastily added, "Well, maybe Sakura is a bit cuter."

"How so?" Nadeshiko promptly typed out on her cell phone.

Syaoran thought for a bit. Actually, he was quite truthful when he said Sakura was cuter as he compared the images of her and the air-hostess in his mind. He tried to forget the horror of his opinion and decided to pick his favorite feature about Sakura for this question and landed on her emerald eyes.

"Um, well, I like her eyes." Syaoran looked at Nadeshiko and realized that she, too, had identical bright green eyes. "Oh, so her eyes are from you. Then it's just beauty passed down from her mother." Syaoran bowed his head and Nadeshiko would have giggled if she could make a sound.

"Sorry, but I really have to go now," Syaoran said, not very reluctant to leave. Nadeshiko followed him to the doorstep and waved goodbye. Syaoran returned the wave and left.

Sakura finally came out of her room when she noticed Syaoran had gone. She looked at her mother who was gesturing at her again: 'I like your friend. Listen to me. Don't choose the man who will make you cry.'

At this, Sakura once again barricaded herself in the room and slammed the door shut.

- **Restaurant; Evening** -

Eriol and Syaoran were at the cashier talking to two of Eriol's friends. They four were talking about his retirement.

"Well, that's great, I guess! You'll have time for other things now," one of the guests said. "Feel free to come to our house anytime to cook for us if you ever miss it!"

The other guest turned to Syaoran and asked, "So you will be taking his place?"

"Yeah." Syaoran smiled.

"Oh, yes, I specially chose him. He is very talented." Eriol smiled and winked at Syaoran.

"But compared to the Master, I'm only an apprentice," Syaoran said, smiling at them.

"Master is what they call only someone who is retired," Eriol said. His face lit up and he took off his master chef hat and handed it to Syaoran. "Looks like this hat officially belongs to you now."

"Well, Eriol, we have to go now!" The guests said.

"Very well, goodbye!" Eriol waved at the retreating guests and turned to Syaoran. "Hmm, have you seen Sakura?"

"Uhh, no."

"Oh, probably hiding again. Now where is that silly girl?" Eriol left Syaoran and was searching everywhere for Sakura. "Sakura?"

- **Outside; behind the back door** -

Sakura was sitting on one of the wooden boxes outside and was checking her cell phone every now and then. She lifted her head and turned around to see Eriol. She stood up and bowed as Eriol walked towards her. They both took a seat.

"Trying not to cry?" Eriol teased, smiling.

"You know that's not how I am," Sakura pouted and then returned to looking at her cell phone. "I've already told you before...I trust Ichiro and I know someday, I'll be his only one. I've already come this far, right? If I start over again, I might end up with someone even worse…like—Syaoran!" Sakura crossed her arms in anger.

"Hey...Sakura? I think you have the wrong idea..." Eriol said frowning. "You don't really even know him. Did you know—"

"I know perfectly well what he's like, thank you very much!" Sakura checked her cell phone once again. "Geez, tell me: how many times can a man break a woman's heart!"

Sakura turned around and saw Syaoran sitting next to her. She was a bit surprised but Syaoran opened his mouth to talk.

"Oh, who knows...how many times can a woman break a man's heart?"

Sakura breathed out in anger, but decided to give him a chance to say whatever he was going to say.

'_When did he get here anyways? I must've not noticed when Eriol ditched me and went inside._'

"I usually don't like to talk about my personal life, but...I don't want you to be angry with me for no reason whatsoever." Syaoran looked down and continued his story. "As you might know, I have this girlfriend, right? Her name is Arisu. She's an air hostess. ('_I was right._' Sakura thought, proud of herself for guessing it.) Last week, she left for a trip to Hong Kong supposedly...but I soon found out that she was here in Japan. _With another man_. She came to me in her uniform and luggage in tow a few days later, acting like she came back from the trip."

"Yikes, what happened? Did you talk to her?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"Yeah, obviously. I've only been dating her for about a year. But after talking to her, I found out she's been with the other man for seven years."

"She's been cheating on you from the beginning!" Sakura said, looking at Syaoran with sad eyes.

"Yes, I suppose. But she kept saying that she'd love us both the same, and that I didn't need to worry."

- **Streets of Japan** -

Sakura and Syaoran walked down the sidewalk, Sakura holding her leash. The short silence was ended when Sakura chuckled and looked at Syaoran.

"What's so funny?" Syaoran said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. I just didn't realize how we were in the same situation. From tonight, we're official partners." Sakura looked determined. "I didn't realize how many broken-hearted people were out there...and again, I'm sorry for being so prejudice."

"Yep, you never know." Syaoran looked at Kero. "What's his name?"

"Ichiro," Sakura replied.

"Not him, your so-called dog."

"Oh heh," Sakura laughed sheepishly, "Kero!"

"Ah, I see. What breed is he?"

"A Pomeranian," Sakura chirped. "Perfect for me: I have eyes but can't really see."

"You have the most interesting ways of putting things.."

"Interesting is a great way to live though, is it not?" Sakura smiled.

Suddenly, Syaoran's head lifted up as they neared a few stores lined along the sidewalk. He sniffed the air. "Mmm, smell that?"

"Smell what?" Sakura also threw her head up and sniffed.

"_Sushi_," Syaoran said simply.

"Well, sorry if I don't have a nose as keen as yours," Sakura said as Syaoran ran off to one of the stores.

They sat down on a nearby bench after ordering. Sakura didn't order any since she wasn't hungry at the moment and was watching Syaoran wolfing down sushi after sushi.

"How long have you been in this area?" Sakura asked as she looked up at Syaoran.

"About two months. Arisu called once and said she found her dream home. So I went to help her unpack and we finished in three days."

"Sweet."

"I actually thought we might get married someday."

"Listen here, women always expect men to be the aggressors. Therefore, you have to _fight_ for her. Win her over," Sakura said with narrowed eyes. "It's like practically...the law of the jungle! You have to become the King."

"I don't see _you_ fighting for your man."

"Women who fight for their men are considered cheap."

Syaoran thought about this. "Putting pride before love is also cheap."

"Well...swallowing your pride _and_ losing love...that's worse," Sakura said stubbornly and got up from the bench.

"Hmph, you're quite romantic, ne?"

"Of course!" Sakura said turning to face him.

"Here," Syaoran said as he held up his hand in a thumbs-up sign. Sakura followed suit, confused. "Our secret 'handshake'...or whatever you'd like to call it." Syaoran pressed her thumb against Sakura's and then bent down and pretended do the same to Kero.

"Kero doesn't like you!" Sakura yelled pulling her leash away.

"Yes, he does!" Syaoran fought back. He pulled on her leash and they were fighting over it. Sakura was so caught up in yanking her leash away that she did not notice the leash dangling over the street. A truck suddenly ran by with a couple honks and the leash flew up and landed on the sidewalk next to Syaoran.

"Kero!" Sakura said, horror-struck, holding both her hands over her mouth.

"Oh, no!" Syaoran cried out as he handed Sakura the bag of sushi. He bent down over the leash and started acting CPR. "He'll be alright!" Sakura stared at him like he was crazy. Okay, she admitted that she was crazy for even walking an imaginary dog around the streets of Japan...but doing CPR on it? Crazy. He took the bag of sushi from Sakura and held it in front of the leash.

"He's responding to it! He'll live," Syaoran chuckled. "Hurry, let's take him to the hospital."

"Wha—?" Sakura said as she watched him stand up and carry the leash in his arms, giving him the 'there's-really-no-need-to-it's-just-an-imaginary-dog' look but laughed nonetheless.

- **Restaurant** -

Syaoran was upstairs in the supply room with a white trash bag. He grabbed a few canned goods and dropped them into the bag. There was a clear window next to him, looking down upon the restaurant. Syaoran looked through and saw the sliding doors open, welcoming Sakura in, her auburn hair billowing against the wind as the sliding doors shut. When she glanced up, Syaoran waved at her. She waved back and made her way upstairs to him, but not before greeting and talking someone that was out of Syaoran's view.

"Hey Syao—What are you doing!" Sakura shouted as she saw him dumping cans into the trash bag. "These are canned goods! They can last for like ten years! Put them back!"

Sakura grabbed the trash bag from him and tried to store it back into the cupboard but Syaoran kept trying to stop her saying, "We don't need these!"

"Oh, yes, we _do_!" Sakura smacked Syaoran upside the head.

"Ow, what!" Syaoran demanded, rubbing his head and losing his grip on the trash bag.

"Would you dump your girlfriend this easily?" She kept trying to restrain a smile as she shoved the cans back. Syaoran took notice of this and eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm going to be the dumped one if anything."

"Then let's not talk about broken hearts." Syaoran stared at her and she looked around, fighting back a big grin. "I'm not talking about _me_."

"What's up with you today? You're acting very...odd. Well, odder than usual."

"Shut up, silly, I'm happy for you." Sakura laughed at Syaoran's puzzled face and added, "Someone's here to see you."

Her head tilted to the window and Syaoran followed her gaze. The person she had greeted had now walked into the window's view. She had brown-red hair and was facing away from them.

"Arisu." Sakura smiled. "Now c'mon, go on down."

"I have nothing to say to her." Syaoran turned away and tried to grab the bag away from Sakura again.

"Nothing to say to her? Well, duh. What's there to say? Just use actions. Actions should show what you're feeling more than words. Like hugs, kisses, so on," Sakura beamed at him. "Oh, my, your lips are so dry! Here, I have some chapstick."

She pulled out something from her pocket and handed it to Syaoran. He applied a tiny bit and handed it back to her.

"Women would _not_ want a man who doesn't know when to take actions," Sakura said, then sighed. "Mine hasn't called in two days, so consider yourself lucky. This is actually her third time looking for you."

Syaoran nodded and was about to head downstairs when he turned to Sakura. "Men don't always know when to express themselves. So maybe he's still thinking about what to say to you. Trust me."

Sakura smiled at him and pushed him downstairs after they pressed their thumbs together for their "secret quasi-handshake." She looked through the window as Syaoran hugged a surprised Arisu, and she sniggered. Chiharu suddenly appeared beside her and Sakura greeted and smiled at her.

The both laughed as Chiharu said, "Syaoran's such a lady killer."

-.-.-.-.-

Hehe, Sakura and Syaoran are finally friends. :) R-e-v-i-e-w.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: Don't own.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

- **Ichiro's apartment: front door; 5:00 PM** -

Sakura took the stairs of the apartment up to Ichiro's front door, a smile plastered on her face. As her foot reached the topmost step, her cell phone rang and she snatched it out of her pocket, glanced at the caller ID, flipped it open, and held it to her ear shyly saying, "Moshi moshi."

"Sakura? Can we have dinner some other time? My plane was delayed for a bit so I can't get home for another half hour or so. I'm so sorry."

"Oh...I'm already here. Should I go back?" Sakura asked.

"Then...okay, I'll be there as soon as possible. Sorry, Sakura. Bye." Sakura heard him hang up and flipped her own phone shut. She shoved it back into her pocket. Then her hand shot into her purse and she dug through it. After five minutes she loudly groaned.

"Hoe, where did I put my key!" Sakura mentally cursed herself and slapped her head as her own punishment. She leaned against her door and sighed. "How can I be so stupid to forget my keys! Mooouu...at least this is an apartment. I'd so catch a cold if it was outside."

After an hour passed, she walked around, trying her best to massage her neck and back. "Hoe, where is he!" She sat down and leaned her back against the door. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Syaoran's number.

-**Syaoran's house** -

Syaoran was cleaning out some food supplies from the refrigerator when his cell phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller and flipped his phone open and saw Sakura's distressed face. (A/N: These kind of cell phones let you see eachother. Cool, ne:P) He smirked and said, "Hey, Sakura."

"Hey, Syaoran. I wanted to ask something. If you came home and saw a girl on your doorstep...would you think she's so totally cheap?" Sakura looked worried on the phone, Syaoran noted. It made him snicker to himself.

"Well...depends on what she looks like." Syaoran then quickly added upon seeing her stern face, "Oh, alright, if it's you then it's okay."

"I'm serious, you dork!" Sakura yelled at her phone, seeing Syaoran snigger in it. Sakura pouted and reverted back to her concerned face. "Ichiro called earlier and said his flight was delayed…but even if he was in Osaka, he should be here soon, shouldn't he?"

"Maybe...but look at that face! Pitiful. Cheap." Syaoran then watched Sakura laugh and she adjusted her pouting lips into a small smile. "Now _that's_ much better. Keep it up. Remember, he's already stressed from work and all so if he sees that pout, he'll probably just turn around and leave...or at least want to. I bet he's exhausted from work too so don't ask questions like 'Where were you?' or 'Who were you with?' and never mention how long you've been waiting. It'll only stress him out more, got it?"

"Mmhmm." Sakura said, maintaining her smile. "So what should I say? How about...'Here's your food delivery, sir!'"

"Give yourself a bit more credit."

"Mmm...'I am one of Charlie's Angels,'" Sakura said, managing a heroic and sly face, "'and I am here to guard your house.'"

"Pfft, that's too silly," Syaoran said with a bored face, but a smile was tugging at his lips.

"Hmm...how about: 'You've spent the whole day at a meeting on top of thinking about me. You must be extremely tired.'"

Syaoran stared at her face in the phone. She was giving him a 'How's-that' look. He smirked and nodded. "Irresistible."

Sakura giggled and hoped she wouldn't forget that line. She then saw a woman she didn't recognize come into the picture in the phone behind Syaoran. The woman had long black pigtails and ruby red eyes. Sakura tilted her head sideways in confusion. "Who's that behind you?"

"Oh! She's my cousin, Meling," Syaoran said turning to Meiling. "That's my friend Sakura."

"Hi!" Meiling chirped and waved at the phone. Sakura giggled and said "Hey!" in return.

"Look, Sakura, I have to go now. Movies and dinner with Arisu."

"Oh, right. You're looking great," Sakura winked. "She'll be happy to see you. Bye, Syaoran-kun." Sakura snapped her phone shut and crammed it back in her pocket. Syaoran did the same and Meiling pouted at him. "You didn't let me say goodbye, you butthead!"

"Too late," Syaoran said as he stuffed the phone inside his pocket. He looked up at Meiling to see her ruby eyes glinting evilly at him. Her mouth twisted into a sneer and she eyed Syaoran skeptically. Annoyed, Syaoran said, "_What_!"

"Oh, dear cousin, you know I have ways of making you spill the truth out to me," Meiling sneered and she stuck her face about an inch away from Syaoran's. She glared at him with narrowed eyes. "So who _exactly_ is Sakura? Does Arisu know her? Hmmmmm? Tell me! Don't you think Arisu would be a bit _mad_ when she finds out who Sakura is?"

"Heh, heh...why should she be?" Syaoran asked, backing away from Meiling. "She's just a co-worker."

"_Just_ a co-worker?" Meiling smirked and crossed her arms. "If so, then why are you sweating? Unless I am mistaken, you just showered like half an hour ago, did you not?"

Syaoran brought his hand up to his forehead and rubbed it. "I am? I'm not sweating...Anyways! I have to go. There's food in the fridge." Syaoran got up from his spot and walked away, leaving a disappointed Meiling behind. She glared at his back until he slammed the front door behind him. "Hmph! I was _so_ close to getting him to spill the truth!"

- **Ichiro's front door; 9:30 PM** -

Sakura's back was almost sliding off the door she was leaning on. Her head was tilted sideways onto her shoulders and her eyes were closed. Her breathing was deep and even as was the rise and fall of her chest. Just as drool appeared at the side of her mouth, Ichiro's feet stopped next to her and he stood above her. He took out his keys, stuck them into the keyhole and turned the lock. He then opened the door, bent down, and picked up Sakura. He carried her to the nearest couch and laid her on it as her eyes opened sleepily and she sat up, gazing groggily at Ichiro, a drop of spit still on the side of her lips. Ichiro sat down next to her and smiled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I dozed off." Sakura quickly wiped the drool away from her mouth with her sleeve and fiercely rubbed her eyes open. Before she could stop herself, she told him, "I was waiting for a long time, Ichiro."

"I know." Ichiro replied.

- **Restaurant** -

A melodic cell phone tune was practically knifing the silence in the café. Syaoran stared at it nervously as Arisu came back and sat down across from him. She silenced it and completely ignored it.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Syaoran asked.

"Would you rather want me to answer it, or talk to you?" Arisu smiled.

- **Ichiro's living room** -

Ichiro's cell phone suddenly rang. He took it out of his pocket, looked at it, and turned it off.

"Who was it? Why don't you answer it?" Sakura asked.

"Do you want me to answer it, or talk to you?" Ichiro smiled.

- **Restaurant** -

"Do you love me?" Syaoran narrowed his eyes.

"Well...you're a big part of my life and without you, I'd be devastated," Arisu replied.

- **Ichiro's living room** -

"Do you really love me?" Sakura asked.

"I told you before. You're the only woman who understands me." Ichiro laughed.

"You're avoiding my question." Sakura looked at him firmly.

- **Restaurant** -

"Do you love him more?" Syaoran questioned.

"I've told you so many times already. I love you both the same. Isn't that enough for you? As long as I love you," Arisu looked at him. "Why? Are you afraid to lose me?"

- **Ichiro's living room** -

"I'm so tired and hungry right now. Can we eat first?" Ichiro replied.

"Ano...okay." Sakura stared at his back as he got up and strode into the kitchen. She mentally slapped herself and physically slapped her lips. '_Man, I totally messed up! And Syaoran gave me advice too! Oh, no..._'

- **Restaurant** -

"You should believe in yourself more," Arisu commented, gazing at Syaoran across their small table.

- **Ichiro's living room** -

"You spent the whole day at the meeting and thinking about me, you must be exhausted," Sakura said shyly, placing a hand on Ichiro's shoulder as he was downing a glass of water. He almost spat the water out and Sakura's eyes widened. "Hoe! Sorry, I was just saying that you must be exhausted."

'_I'm so gonna hurt Syaoran for saying that line was irresistible. Or maybe Ichiro's just not in the mood. After all, he _is _tired and just came back from work._'

"Don't be so silly," Ichiro chuckled, shaking Sakura's shoulders. "Actually, I should be sorr—"

"No, don't say it," Sakura said, placing a finger on his lips to silence him. "I believe you."

- **Restaurant; Next morning** -

Sakura, holding a towel and an empty coffee pot, was about to walk behind the counter to make some coffee when she almost ran into Syaoran, who was walking the opposite direction holding a couple pictures and pins. He was headed toward the bulletin board next to the counter. They both greeted each other and went their own ways. Chiharu, who was behind the counter already, made way for Sakura and turned up the volume of the radio so everyone could hear the song that was playing. (Sore ga ai deshou by Mikuh Shimokawa) As Sakura wiped a couple glass cups behind the counter, she started to mouth the words. So did Syaoran, who was pinning pictures to the board.

"_...kedo_

_Yasashisa wa tokidoki zankoku dakara_

_Motomeru hodo, kotae wo miushinau_

_Ameagari no machi, niji ga mieru nara_

_Ima arukidasou nanika ga hajimaru_

_Kimi ga irukara_

_Asu ga arukara_

_Hitorikkiri ja ikiteyakenai kara..."_

Syaoran leaned against the counter with his elbows on the top, propped up so he could see the picture better. At the same moment, Sakura also leaned against the counter on the her side of the counter with her elbows on the top, straight across from Syaoran and the towel she was using to clean the cup accidentally fell onto his picture. His eyes looked up and they found themselves gazing into emerald pools. Sakura broke the gaze and quickly turned away.

"_...Konna ni chikaku ni kanjiru sore ga aide shou_

_Namida no kazu no itami wo kimi wa shitteru kara_

_Sukitooru sono me no naka ni tashika na imi wo sagashite_

_Egao mitsuketai..."_

Sakura pressed a button on the coffee machine and the message box on the corner of the coffee machine read "SPECIAL COFEE". After five minutes, the machine beeped and Sakura carefully filled two cups with her special coffee and handed one to Syaoran.

"Had fun last night?" Sakura said as she sipped her coffee.

"It was okay," Syaoran said as he took a sip without thinking. His eyes quickly widened and he was about to spit it out when Sakura yelped and stopped him from doing so.

"No! Don't spit it out! Relax your tongue...then swirl it around in your mouth..." She trailed off as she watched him try it, then smiled. "Taste the complexity?" When Syaoran nodded, she added, "It's my special Double Shot Espresso...the ying-and-yang, a delicate, complex mixture of bitter and sweet." She did the same with her mouthful of coffee, swallowed, then sighed happily with an "Mmmmm" escaping her lips.

"I never looked at it that way." Syaoran said as he took another sip and swirled the taste around in his mouth. Sakura giggled and said, "I hope Arisu will be able to enjoy it. Those who try my Double Shot Espresso..." Sakura smirked, "Heeheehee, will _never_ again be satisfied with **regular** coffee."

As Sakura took a sip, Syaoran quickly pulled out his camera. "Ooh, _perfect_ lighting! Let's take a picture of you drinking your coffee." Sakura nearly spit her coffee out at these words but swallowed just in time.

"No! I look so...so tired and stuff!" Sakura turned away from the camera and held her hand up against it.

"Please?" Syaoran asked as he focused the camera. "You don't look that tired!"

"Are you kidding me?" Takashi suddenly appeared between them. "Sakura? Not looking tired?"

Sakura and Syaoran both glared him down. Takashi started to back away. "Eheh...later!" He disappeared into the kitchen. Syaoran held up his camera again and clicked...but Sakura was too fast for him. Her hand shot up and covered the lens as the flash exploded under her hands. "C'mon, Sakura!"

"Have you met your rival?" Sakura quickly asked Syaoran, hoping he'd put the camera away. To her luck, he did. "No. Not yet."

"Oh, why not?" Sakura eyed him suspiciously as she inched closer to him. "Scared? Hmmmmm?"

"Of what?" Syaoran said, backing away. Sakura stopped moving closer and said, "Mmm, I dunno...scared?"

- **Sakura's car** -

"I know a place," Syaoran said, fanning his panting mouth, "with chicken _spicier_ than this." Sakura also fanned her mouth and stared at him. She then used her toothpick to stab another piece of chicken in her paper brown bag and stuff it into her mouth. "Don't talk, EAT! A numb tongue will make you less nervous! Hold this." Sakura handed him her paper brown bag of chicken and opened her water bottle to take a gulp of water.

"What she does," Syaoran said, wheezing after swallowing another piece of spicy chicken, "is none of my business."

"Giving up already?" Sakura said after her long gulp of water. "After you've come this far?"

"It's not that...it's just, I don't know who got cheated: Me or Him?" Syaoran grabbed Sakura's water bottle and tipped a mouthful of water into his mouth without spilling. Not bad for a birdie drink.

"It's no time to be _polite_! You're **better** than him! It's not a freaking competition but a chance for her to choose who to marry," Sakura gagged and held her right hand out to him palm up and fanned her open mouth with her left hand, "Pass the water bottle, please!"

Suddenly, Syaoran glanced over Sakura's shoulder to see Arisu walking to her car. Without thinking, he shouted, "Right! Right! She's starting her engine and driving forward!"

Sakura looked over at her and started her engine too, after a quick sip of water. She followed her and exactly when Arisu made a left turn, she accidentally made a right turn. "NO! What are you doing! She went left! LEFT! That way! 10 o'clock! LEFT, YOU IDIOT!"

"Who're YOU calling idiot? You said right!" Sakura screamed as she tried to reverse her engine, resulting in many sharp squeals from the tires of the car as she backed up. She glanced behind her every now and then, afraid to lose sight of Arisu.

"Let me drive!" Syaoran shouted as he attempted to push Sakura off the wheel. "NO WAY! I'M **_DRIVING_**, YOU MANIAC!" Sakura yelled back as she kept turning her driving wheel in many 360 degree angles to the left as Syaoran kept calling, "Hurry! Hurry!"

"Stop it! I'm going left! I see her!"

"GO! GO! GO! You're too slow!"

"SHUT UP SYAORAN!" The car screeched and jerked violently as Sakura made a sharp turn to keep up with Arisu. "AHH NO, THE CHICKEN! You don't have to make such sharp turns, baka!"

- **Airport restaurant** -

Syaoran ran into the airport and looked around. Since it was around lunch time, he went to the restaurants to find his rival. All he knew about him was that he was a pilot...so it shouldn't be hard to find someone in a uniform. Syaoran looked around, passing McDonalds and Starbucks along the way. He then found a Noodle House and saw a man in a navy blue uniform sitting alone at a two-people table reading a newspaper. '_I'll take my chances..._' So he sat across from the pilot and stared at his forehead, which was the only part of his skin shown behind the newspaper.

The newspaper slowly lowered as the pilot realized that there was a presence across from him. A man with light brown hair and a slight beard stared over at Syaoran with his blue eyes. He glanced around him and then back at Syaoran, perplexed. "Um, sorry...but do I know you? Have we met before?"

Syaoran shook his head and his rival laughed. "Ummm, okay...uhh...sorry, I have a girlfriend." Syaoran nodded understandably. "Um...do you have no where else to sit? Or uhhh...what's the problem?"

Suddenly, Arisu walked up to them with her luggage in tow. She was wearing her blue uniform and she stopped in front of their table and looked at both men. "Ano...Syaoran. What a coincidence."

"Do you know him?" The pilot asked.

"Hai...this is Li Syaoran. You know, the cook I told you about," Arisu said. She turned to Syaoran, "This is my boyfriend Furuka Zen."

"Ohhhh," Zen laughed, "She told me a lot about your Italian food. I didn't know you could make pasta as well."

Syaoran nodded without saying a word. Zen bit his lip, wondering why he looked mad, "We'll have to try your cooking when we get back." He checked his watch. "Ah, my plane flight is in an hour. I should get going."

He stood up and held his hand out for Syaoran to shake. "It was nice meeting you." Syaoran hesitated before reaching out his arm and grabbing his hand. Zen then turned to Arisu and gave her a hug. "Bye, honey."

When he left, Arisu rounded on Syaoran. She pulled him up out of the chair and steered him to the escalators to go downstairs. "You came to see me off or what?"

Syaoran shook out of her reach. "This is way too complicated." Arisu looked at him and flattened her lips. "I'm happy with the way things are now. Marriage isn't until later anyways. I love you both. I've told you so many times."

"If you were to marry one of us, who would it be?" Arisu's head fell and she stayed silent.

Syaoran felt something tugging at his stomach. _Something_. What was it? All he knew for now was that Sakura's face, her dazzling emerald eyes popped into his head when he asked Arisu the question.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

R is for Review. XP


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: Shut up. I don't own.

-.-.-.-.-.-

- **Supermarket** -

"So how did it go yesterday?" Sakura asked Syaoran as she tossed a quart of vegetable oil into her shopping cart. He answered her, "Fine." Sakura looked up at him disbelievingly. She then grabbed a few medium-sized packs of Lays chips, handed one to Syaoran, and placed the rest of the packs into the cart as they passed by a short lady sweeping the floor with a broom.

"I don't eat this crap," Syaoran retorted.

"It's not for you to eat, silly." Sakura answered. "It's for you to channel out your anger." Sakura threw a few small fake punches at the Lays bag.

"What anger?" Syaoran bit back, glaring at her. "I am _not_ angry."

"No need to pretend in front of me, Syaoran. Go on," Sakura encouraged. "After all, you're a god catch. You don't deserve to be dumped—"

Just as Sakura was about to finish her sentence, Syaoran held the Lays in his left hand and his right hand smashed the bag with much force. With a loud pop, the bag blasted open and the chips scattered all over Sakura, who jumped in surprise. She muttered, "Ugh, could have warned me," as she brushed off all the chips from her hair and grabbed a few that flew into her shirt when the short lady sweeping the floor came up to them, fuming. She shoved the broom into Syaoran's hands and looked at him expectantly.

"Um...I'll be in the next aisle if you need me," Sakura quickly said as she rolled her cart forward with her hastily.

When she turned to the next aisle, she saw a bunch of T-shirts on sale. "Buy one get one free!" read the sign. Sakura took two shirts and looked at them. '_Hmm, not bad. As long as it's cheap and so-so quality, I'll buy it._'

When Syaoran emerged from the aisle he was cleaning, Sakura shoved one of the shirts into his hands. "Change out of that shirt. You smell. A lot like Lays, too..."

Syaoran obediently took it and walked to the bathroom.

"Hey Sakura!" Sakura turned at her the sound of her name and saw Yuuhi with a bunch of raw meat in her cart. "Shopping?"

Sakura looked at her viciously. "No, I'm doing my laundry."

Yuuhi giggled. "You have a weird sense of humor, Sakura."

"It's called sarcasm."

"Are you seriously buying that ugly shirt?" Yuuhi asked as she eyed the plain black shirt Sakura was holding as if it was something slimy.

"I think it's rather nice," Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"Anyways, I'm buying some steak. Ichiro loves barbeque steak. We're having dinner tonight." Yuuhi smiled. Sakura glared at her fiercely. Yuuhi frowned at her expression. "Don't look so surprised." Silence. "Relationships in your business is always so complicated. But...I admire the way you put up with the pain, being the other girl and all."

"You...you _know_?" Sakura gaped at her, shocked. Yuuhi nodded. "Mmhmm, of course. It's obvious." Sakura bit her lip. '_Oh no, she found out! Crap..._'

"I don't know what you see in that cook. Doesn't he have another girlfriend?"

"Wh-_what_?" Sakura asked, perplexed at what she said. '_The cook? She thinks I'm dating Syaoran! What a retard._'

"It's okay, your secret's safe with me."

Sakura scoffed. "He's not **_just_** a cook, he's a **_professional_** cook." Her face was that of pride mixed with ferocity.

"Whatever." Yuuhi smiled. "Anyways, Ichiro's waiting for me outside. Bye, Sakura!" She then steered her cart away to the front door with Sakura glowering at her back and breathing deeply to maintain her temper. Just then, Syaoran appeared behind her. He studied her face and chuckled. He grabbed a bag of Lays from her cart and handed it to her.

"Looks, like you need this more than I do. You're practically steaming."

"No, I'm not!" Sakura hissed.

"Very convincing," Syaoran commented sarcastically.

"_I-said-I'm-not-angry_!" Sakura shouted in one breath. Her nose and mouth were both taking in a great amount of air as she struggled to stay calm. She was glaring at the front door where Yuuhi disappeared to like a mad bull eyeing a red flag billowing in the wind. Syaoran stifled a snigger.

"C'mon, Sakura, there's no need to pretend in front of me."

And with that, Sakura grabbed the Lays from him, held it tight in her left hand, and smashed it open with her right hand with a frustrated scream. The bag popped and the chips were strewn all over the floor. The short lady sweeping the floor came up from behind them and she held her broom up, looking at them both furiously. Sakura and Syaoran, nervous, hurriedly pointed at one another, trying to shift the blame.

- **Restaurant: kitchen** -

"Hey, Eriol! What should we do with these?" Takashi asked as Eriol passed. In Takashi's hands was a box filled with small sector slices of a cake leftover. Before Eriol could answer, the refrigerator door next to them closed and Syaoran's head appeared. He smiled and said, "Wait, I could use those."

Sakura walked up to them holding empty mugs. "What's going on?"

"Wanna help me make a special delivery?" Syaoran asked.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"So you're sure Ichiro's out at Yuuhi's house for steak, right?" Syaoran asked as he climbed up the stairs of the apartment to Ichiro's front door.

"Positive," Sakura replied through gritted teeth.

"Ah, nothing like a freshly baked cake," Syaoran smirked as he opened the box, took a piece of cake out, and nibbled the edge. "Mmmm, Ichiro will be glad." He smiled slyly at Sakura's worried face.

"No, let's not do this, please," Sakura said timidly. "He'll know it's me when he sees the cake!"

"That's a big difference between men and women: He won't know what you're thinking if you don't tell him," Syaoran told her as he held Sakura's right hand palms up and placed the cake into her grasp. "Trust me. And besides, this will be fun. It's what he deserves. You can tell Kero to keep watch."

"Kero, keep watch!" Sakura shouted at the leash at the bottom of the stairs. She turned her head back to Syaoran nervously.

"Nooo, I can't do this..." Sakura pleaded as Syaoran held her hand up higher. She turned her head away, not wanting to watch what she knew Syaoran was going to do. "No, don't make me!" In a split second, Sakura squashed the cake onto Ichiro's front door with Syaoran in control. Sakura, all nervousness lost, started laughing with Syaoran. She started jumping in excitement and they both reached their hands into the box for another slice of cake. As their laughs grew louder, they looked anxiously but sternly at eachother. They both hissed, "Shhh!" and tried to stifle their chortles as they threw, smashed, and smeared more cake onto Ichiro's front door.

After they finished the entire box and decided they made an excellent "delivery", they quickly ran down the stairs, picked up Kero, and left the apartment. Syaoran snorted as he and Sakura tried to maintain straight faces while they walked out of the apartment in case Ichiro suddenly stepped in. Fortunately, he didn't. When they were finally outside, Syaoran turned to Sakura. "Geez, I wish I could see his face when he gets home."

Sakura stopped in mid-laughter and bit her lip. She looked down and thought for a long moment. After a minute, she looked up at Syaoran with the same concerned expression she had before. "I'll be right back." And with that, Sakura ran back into the apartment and up the stairs to his front door.

She held the box up to the door and used a paper towel to wipe it off. It took a long while since the cake was so sticky, but she did the best she could before returning to Syaoran. When she got back outside, she and Syaoran continued to walk away from the apartment. She inhaled deeply. "Alright, go on. Just say it."

"Say what?" Syaoran asked.

"That I'm pathetic," Sakura said with her face down.

"It's not a crime to be in love," Syaoran responded, though he looked disappointed nonetheless. "It could really be that he's your 'special one.'"

They continued to walk down the sidewalk when Syaoran spoke up. "No matter how serious or casual a relationship is, I believe that there is always that 'special someone' out there. (A/N: Cliché, I know. XP) It could be her, her, her, or her," Syaoran said as he pointed in random directions. "But I believe that Arisu's my 'special one.'"

"Mmhmm...and Ichiro is mine. But then he's special too. And him. Him. Him, him, him, and him. They're all special in their own ways," Sakura said as she also pointed in random directions.

"How did you meet him?" Syaoran asked.

"When I went to Shanghai a couple years ago, I was working at a café. Ichiro was a voluntary doctor at this hospital neighboring us so he'd always come into our café and sit at the same table." Sakura smiled. "Anyways, what time is it?"

Syaoran took out his cell phone as Sakura did the same. "Oh, no!" She yelped after she flipped her cell phone open. Syaoran shot her a confused glance. "My phone's out of batteries!"

"Mine's not...but I've got no messages. I suppose that's worse, huh?" Syaoran asked her. Seeing her frustrated face, he decided not to wait for an answer. He looked down at the leash and collar. "Isn't that right, Kero?"

"Stay away from him, he still doesn't like you!"

-.-.-.-.-.-

The next day, Sakura walked down to the restaurant at 7 AM. However, before she had gotten to the small back door that led to the kitchen, she saw a small crowd of her fellow cooks all peeking through the window not too far from the door. She narrowed her gaze as she observed them suspiciously and her pace lessened. "What are you guys up to now?" She asked in an exasperated voice.

"It's Syaoran! With Arisu!" Naoko whispered to Sakura, who ran up to the window and peeked with everyone else at these words. "She's such a fool, marrying the other man!"

"I say Syaoran's the fool," Takashi retorted. He was about to say something else but was silenced by Sakura's mean glare of "don't-call-him-a-fool."

"I can't believe she had the nerve to bring her fiancé down here!" Chiharu commented.

"Two men who are both after one girl? And all in the same room?" Sakura asked rhetorically. "We better call the police!"

"I think we should call the ambulance," Takashi said as he peered through the window.

"She even went a bit further and asked him to make the wedding cake! The nerve of her!" Chiharu continued.

At this, Sakura ran to the back door, opened it, walked into the kitchen, then into the restaurant, and sat down next to Syaoran when Arisu excitedly said, "Let's make it four layers!" She stared at Arisu angrily. "I'm sorry. We don't have the time to make your wedding cake."

"Syaoran already agreed," Arisu spat, her voice like venom as she immediately started to hate Sakura.

"I'm the catering manager, and I say we can't do it," Sakura simply said.

Zen glimpsed around at everyone at the table. He then started to laugh and stare at Sakura. "Please, I don't mind paying extra."

Sakura rounded on him. "_I said we can't do it!_"

"Sakura..." Syaoran's voice came up for the first time. "It's Arisu's wedding. It'll just be a nice wedding gift."

She looked at him in astonishment, but knew she couldn't stop him. "Oh, alright. We'll find time..."

-.-.-.-.-.-

- **Gift shop** -

Sakura picked up a pair of earrings from a turning display and studied it. She sighed and placed it back. She looked around the room and unknowingly walked up to a plastic model of a woman wearing an olive green dress. Just in time, she stopped millimeters away from it and found herself staring at a necklace around the model's neck. The glimmer of it had caught her eye. It had a silver chain with a lovely cherry blossom charm made from pale pink mother-of-pearl. She gasped at the beauty of it. Unable to resist, Sakura quickly unchained the back of the necklace and found Syaoran, who was conveniently next to a mirror looking at other jewelry.

"Syaoran! Look what I found! It's beautiful!" Sakura whispered, though she really wanted to shout. If only the room wasn't so quiet. "Help me put it on!"

Sakura fumbled with the lock but Syaoran was able to clasp the necklace together. Sakura smiled excitedly and she looked into the mirror. First, she straightened out her clothes and grinned at her reflection. Syaoran was right behind her, looking at the mirror also. He looked taken aback at her first wide grin but Sakura was oblivious to it since she started to move around, admiring the necklace at all angles. She giggled and said, "This is so pretty! If a guy bought this for me, I think I'd marry him right _then_ and _there_."

Without thinking, Syaoran pulled out his credit card as one of the shop assistants passed by and handed it to the lady. He still looked dazed but was brought out of his reverie when a female voice chirped, "Would the lady like to wear it or wrap it?"

"Oh! Wrap it!" Sakura said, surprised. She was too busy admiring the necklace to notice Syaoran give the assistant the credit card. She turned her back to Syaoran and fumbled with the chain again. "It's a wedding gift."

"Uh...yeah, that's right," Syaoran faked a laugh as he shook his head and helped Sakura unchain the necklace. After giving it to the lady, he mentally slapped himself. '_What was I thinking!_'

"So...do you think Arisu will like it?" Syaoran quickly asked.

"Of course!" Sakura answered as the lady handed the wrapped necklace to Syaoran.

'_Yeah...this is for Arisu. Duh...for a wild moment, I felt like I wanted to buy it for Sakura. But why? Was it because she said she'd marry a guy right then and there if he bought it for her? No way...wait, it's possible..._'

Syaoran's eyes widened in realization, for his heart was much stronger than his mind.

-.-.-.-.-.-

I'm sorry it's short but...at least it's an important chapter, right:) Therefore, you **_have_** to review. Duh.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm gonna update all my stories as much as possible before school starts lol. Eeeek I'll never be able to update during marching season. :(

-.-.-.-.-.-

Sakura was humming a random song as she added the ingredients that the wedding cake needed. She dumped flour into the large bowl as Syaoran was next to her, getting a platter ready for the cake. Sakura was now adding sugar into the concoction and after a few seconds, Syaoran suddenly said, "Stop! Arisu doesn't like things too sweet."

Sakura groaned, rolled her eyes, and turned her head to him. She stopped tipping sugar into the bowl. "I _know_. You told me at least 84 times!" Sakura turned back to the mixture. Syaoran started to say, "Yes, but I was just reminding—"

"AL_RIGHT_! Say it once more and I'll add **_salt_**!" Sakura threatened. She shot him a death glare.

Finally, Sakura finished dumping the ingredients in the bowl and she brought it to a red battering machine. She lifted the top, placed the bowl under it, and covered the top. But before she pressed the button Syaoran stopped her.

"No, don't use that," Syaoran said.

"Then what do you want me to use?"

"This," Syaoran replied, pulling out a hand batterer from his pocket. "It tastes better when you do it by hand."

"Are you _crazy_, you retard!" Sakura shouted. "This cake is four freaking layers. By the time we're done, it'll be dawn of the next morning!" (It was 1 PM then.)

"That's why we're here all night. I thought you knew," Syaoran chuckled. Sakura stared at him incredulously.

"Calm down, Sakura, that's why _I'm_ here too."

Syaoran helped her mix it by hand since he was much faster than she was. When they were finished, Sakura tasted the mixture and stopped to savor it. She shook her head and sighed as she emptied the bowl into the sink. After many, many attempts, they finally made the cake taste how they wanted. Sakura placed two platters of cake at a time into the oven.

"That wasn't too bad," Sakura commented, glancing at her watch. It was now 7 PM. Syaoran gave her a look that could only mean "Told you we're not gonna stay until dawn."

While waiting for the cake, Sakura brewed two mugs of coffee and they sat down at a table in the restaurant and enjoyed it. She lifted up her cup to Syaoran saying "Cheers," and the clinking of two mugs could be heard. As they put the mugs back down on the table, they swirled the taste in their mouth with their tongues and swallowed.

"Arisu is really lucky," Sakura suddenly said. Syaoran's head shot up to look at her at once, heart beating fast.

"Why?" He demanded.

"She's getting married to a rich man...and she still has an ex who still loves her," Sakura explained. "Every woman should have such luck. Too bad there're not enough rich men or enough men to be exes." She giggled.

Syaoran chuckled, mostly to himself. '_Of course,_' He thought. '_In her point of view, Arisu isn't lucky because I still like her. What was I hoping for?_'

"When you get married, Sakura, I'll also bake you a cake," Syaoran promised. Sakura smiled at him. "I'll hold you to that promise, mister."

They took another sip of their coffee, swirled the taste in their tongues, and swallowed. Sakura eyed Syaoran's face. She inched closer to him until her nose was centimeters away from his cheek, or rather until Syaoran was starting to fight a blush. She giggled and reached out a hand to wipe something off his face. Syaoran slightly flinched at her touch. He felt his face burn where her fingers and his cheek came in contact. Chuckling, Sakura said, "You've got flour all over your face."

She continued to wipe his cheek off with her fingers when Syaoran reached his hand to her cheek and said, "It's all over your face, too." He laughed as he brushed off the flour from her cheek.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"I know I shouldn't be saying this," Sakua began. "But until she says 'I do,' you still have a chance."

She placed a small figure of a bride, arm under the groom, on top of a magnificent cake. It was tall, four layers as promised, and snow white. There were large red roses made of icing lining the edges around each layer of cake. The cake was neatly decorated with creamy outlining. "It's beautiful. She'll be so happy with this cake that she'll want you back."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well," Sakura said, "Ready to make this delivery?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

Arisu was in her own house on the second floor, trying on the wedding dress she picked out. Her family was around her, straightening out her gown as Zen watched. Outside, Sakura and Syaoran arrived by car. Sakura honked loudly when she saw that Arisu was inside.

"Who's that?" Zen asked.

Arisu ran up to the window and glimpsed outside. She smiled when she saw Syaoran in the car. "I knew he'd come for me!"

Sakura opened the door and got out of the driver's seat and made her way to the trunk. After opening the trunk, she reached both arms into it and brought out an enormous box. As she slammed the trunk shut, Arisu came bolting out the door and into the driver's seat.

"Hey! Wait!" Sakura yelled as Arisu drove off without her cake. "Syaoran!" Sakura was being squashed under the weight of the enormous cake and fumbled to keep hold of the box without dropping it. Giving up, she set the cake down and watched her car drive further and further. '_Syaoran better drive that car back._'

-.-.-.-.-.-

Arisu drove Syaoran to his own house and when they got inside, Syaoran brewed a cup of coffee. Arisu was talking on her cell phone. "Um yes, I had booked a flight for Shanghai. But now I want to cancel it. I want to go to France instead. Hai...hai. Alright, thank you."

Arisu hung up and she looked around for Syaoran. When she saw the bathroom door ajar, she walked up to it and gently pushed the door fully open. She saw Syaoran sitting on the bathroom table, drinking coffee. Arisu raised an eyebrow. "Does coffee taste better in the bathroom?"

"Why don't you try it?" Syaoran said as he handed the cup to her. He left the bathroom and strode into the living room to his coffee machine. Suddenly, Arisu stomped up to him. She slammed the cup down on top of the coffee maker. "What is up with you lately! You never used to drink espresso."

Syaoran remained silent. Arisu sighed exasperatedly and pulled out the cherry blossom necklace from her pocket. She also slammed that on top of the coffee maker. "And you never used to give me gifts like these. Why? If I wanted this crap, I could just ask Zen and he'd buy me 2,000 of them! Why did you come back for me?"

"I didn't," Syaoran said simply.

"Excuse me!" Arisu commanded. "Try saying that again."

"_I didn't_." Syaoran repeated, angrier this time.

"Did you not just honk your car, and declare your love for me to the world! Why did you come?"

"I was delivering your cake," Syaoran replied. Arisu was fuming. She stared daggers at Syaoran. "I could be in Shanghai right now, enjoying my honeymoon!"

"Then why don't you go?"

"Because you showed that you'd do anything to have me." And with that, Arisu started to leave. She stopped in mid-step when Syaoran muttered, "Then this must be a mistake." Arisu turned back to Syaoran. She threw him a punch square between the eyes and spat, "You have another woman."

When Arisu left the house, Syaoran was left, rubbing his nose. '_What the hell was that!_'

-.-.-.-.-.-

Sakura was riding a taxi, since her car was currently at Syaoran's house. Her head was sticking out of the window and she was enjoying the cool breeze in the sunlight, smiling. Suddenly, her cell phone rang and she picked it up from inside her purse and looked at the caller. Smirking, she flipped her phone open, held it to her ear, and said, "Are you two lovebirds fooling around now?"

"No, I'm alone at my house," came Syaoran's voice.

"Ah, I see," Sakura responded. "Anyways, I'm on an important mission right now!"

Laughing, Syaoran asked, "What is that?"

"Delivering a hot order of rice with duck blood. Ichiro just called to tell me that he was _dying_ to have some. Maybe this is his way of saying sorry?" Sakura questioned.

"I see. Well, good luck." Syaoran hung up. Sakura did the same, but not too long after, her phone rang again. She picked it up and held it to her ear. "Moshi moshi?"

As she listened, her eyes widened in shock.

-.-.-.-.-.-

El fin. -bows- Now it is time for you to review. -wink-


	7. Chapter 7

I'm on a roll! I hope I can finished before school starts! Eeeeek!

Remember that Sakura is the dense one. Like always. Lol.

Don't you hate it when there's a cliffhanger...and then it turns out that it's something not that important?

Well, my friend once said to do to others whatever annoys yourself. XP Hahahahaha. Just kidding...

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh, Sakura! It was a horrible nightmare!"

"Shh, calm down, Rika, it was just a dream," Sakura cooed as the doctors steered her rolling bed into an emergency room.

"In my dream, I woke up and—and... _my baby was gone_!" Rika sobbed.

"Rika, stop crying! You know it's not true! Look at this belly," Sakura said as she rubbed her friend's stomach. The doctors were still moving Rika rapidly towards a room and Sakura was running to catch up. "Your baby's going to be big and strong like her godmother. See! She's already got my sense of humor! She's _teasing_ you! Don't cry."

"Look at you, Sakura! Why are you so beautiful today? Oh, I'm so butt ugly compared to you!" Rika cried.

"I catered an event today, that's all!" Sakura said. "You _are_ pretty! You're just in a bad mood because of the nightmare!"

"She's right!" said Rika's husband, Terada. "You're extremely pretty! How can a woman with such a beautiful face think she's not? Now stop crying, please."

Sakura stopped running as the doctors turned a corner, steering Rika away. She stared after them and chuckled to herself. '_She'll be alright_.'

-.-.-.-.-.-

Grinning from ear to ear, Sakura found herself standing in front of Ichiro's apartment. She took a deep breath and was about to enter when she heard Yuuhi's voice around the corner of the apartment. She quickly ran away and hid behind a tree next to the building. '_They went for a walk! That was so close!_'

Ichiro raised his hand up and a taxi pulled over. He opened the door and escorted Yuuhi in. "Good night, honey. See you tomorrow."

Sakura felt her eyes well up in tears and anger as she saw the taxi drive away.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Mom...why is dating so painful? I don't _ever_ want to see a man again."

A gloomy Sakura was lying down, her head in her mother's lap. Nadeshiko slapped Sakura's shoulder lightly. She signaled, 'What are you _talking_ about?'

'Blood is thicker than water,' Sakura signaled. Nadeshiko pondered for a moment, then gestured, 'I still don't understand what the heck you're trying to say, dear.'

'Your breasts are sagging,' Sakura indicated. Nadeshiko looked at Sakura disapprovingly and tickled Sakura's sides. Sakura shrieked and laughed. "Oww, -breathes and laughs- Mom!"

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Did you hear!" Takashi exclaimed.

"What?" Chiharu asked.

"Arisu left Zen right at the alter!" Takashi cried. "So she could go back to Syaoran!"

"I'm not surprised," Naoko commented. "He's such a charmer."

"But that's not the end of it!" Takashi shouted. "_Syaoran dumped her._"

Sakura was counting a pile of cash but her pace only quickened at these words. Eriol grabbed the bills out of her hands and threw them back down on the table. "You counted this at least ten times! 170,000 yen!"

"Just checking," Sakura murmured.

"Anyways..." Naoko said. "About your birthday party, Sakura."

"Yes...Um, have you all got everything ready?" Sakura asked.

"Hai," they chorused.

"I was afraid of getting something you didn't like, _again_," Takashi said. "So instead, I got a certificate. Smart, huh?"

"Not nearly," smirked Eriol. "Ten years ago, I bought ten presents: one for each year. Just for you, Sakura. Besides, how can I forget your birthday? It's the same day as my wedding anniversary to Tomoyo." Everyone laughed.

"I can bake the cake," Syaoran offered, suddenly popping out from the kitchen door.

Everyone looked nervously at eachother. Naoko spoke up. "Um...these things have already been planned a long ago, Syaoran. Before you even came. Gomen-nasai."

"Oh..." Syaoran muttered. He was about to go back into the kitchen when Sakura shouted, "Syaoran!" He turned around to look at her. "Ummm, how did it go the other day?"

Syaoran glanced around. "Uhh...well..." He trailed off and shook his head. "What about you?"

"Hmm...Syaoran? Let's put it this way: Would you like some coffee?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

Syaoran watched Sakura at the coffee counter as she spilled some coffee beans from a bag onto the table. He stared intently as Sakura used a straw to sort out the beans. She kept moving a few to one side and others to another side. Perplexed, he questioned her. "What are you doing?"

"It's my secret recipe. Fifty five beans make the _perfect_ espresso. Fifty five beans. No more, no less," explained Sakura as she continued to count the beans and sort them neatly.

"That sounds like a relationship," Syaoran said. "Both people are equally important. No more, no less."

Sakura sighed. "If only all relationships were like that. Anyways, remember, Syaoran. _Fifty five beans_. Just don't tell anyone," Sakura joked.

Syaoran watched her look up from her counting and Emerald met Amber, just a few tiny inches apart. He nearly blushed when she smiled at him. "So, I'll see you at my birthday party? You better come by the way!"

Slowly, a smile won over Syaoran's lips. He nodded. "Mmhmm. I'll be there."

-.-.-.-.-.-

- **Syaoran's house** -

In a rush, Syaoran threw on a black tuxedo outfit and hurried out to the living room. "Hey, Meiling! Do I look overdressed?"

"It's fine," she replied serenely, studying his outfit from her sofa. Her little brother had a little more to say though.

"Are you going to a funeral?" he asked, eyeing his clothes up and down with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, um...I can change!" Syaoran yelled as he ran back into his room. Meiling slapped her little brother. "_Shut up_," she whispered. Syaoran ran back out dressed in brown instead of black. "How's this?"

"It's _fine_, Syaoran!" Meiling sighed exasperately. "You know what you look like! You look like you're dressing up for Tanaka."

"Who's that?" He asked.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "Your first love in high school. Or what you thought was anyways." She smiled mischievously. "Well, congratulations on this second puberty of yours. Say hi to Sakura for me!"

-.-.-.-.-.-

- **Restaurant** -

Sakura struggled under the weight of just part of her birthday presents as she carried a few of them at a time to safety, away from the dancing guests. After doing so, she returned to the snack table. There were all sorts of dishes and each looked delicious. Sakura didn't know where to start...that is, until Syaoran walked up to her holding a plate of some sort of mini bread rolls.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"Try one," Syaoran replied. He took one and held it in front of Sakura's mouth. She cautiously took a bite out of it and her eyes widened with surprise and happiness. She jumped with joy, exclaiming, "Mmmmm! It's _SO_ **_delicious_**!"

Syaoran chuckled and pulled out his camera. "Hold still, I've got to get a picture of that."

Sakura took another roll and was about to stick it in her mouth for the picture as Syaoran held the camera up when Takashi suddenly shouted and pointed past Sakura's shoulder, "Hey look! It's the forgotten boyfriend!"

Sakura turned around and looked upstairs. There was Ichiro waving a wrapped box at her. He ran downstairs and presented it to her. Sakura cheerfully opened it to see a cake. For some reason, she didn't feel as elated as she thought she would be.

Chiharu popped up behind Sakura and chirped, "A special cake from Ichiro!"

Ichiro said, "I got it from the store _Fracois De La Bouche_."

Everyone gathered around the cake. The girl's side sighed happily while Takashi and the other guys rolled their eyes. "It looks like crap," Takashi whispered, chuckling.

"I saw this at MTR," Syaoran said. Sakura took off the plastic cover off of the cake and Ichiro placed a candle in the middle of it and lit it. "Make a wish!" everyone shouted.

Sakura closed her eyes and thought. She then opened them and inhaled deeply so that she could blow the candle out. But before she did so, Syaoran quickly blew it out for her, saying, "Great! Let's cut the cake!"

Syaoran picked up a large knife and sloppily chopped it straight down through the center of the cake. Sakura gasped as he accidentally sliced the chocolate surrounding the edges of it. '_What is he _doing_? He's not even thinking about where to cut!_' Syaoran began serving the cake but never allowed Sakura to have a taste of it. Whenever Sakura made to grab the current plates of cake slices Syaoran was holding, he would turn away and give it to someone else.

'_What's wrong with Syaoran?_' Sakura thought angrily. But before she could think of what, Ichiro pulled her over to the dance floor. They had fun dancing salsa whereas Syaoran wasn't really paying attention to who he was dancing with. He kept dancing with random people and stealing glances over at Sakura and Ichiro. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Syaoran, they stopped dancing. Sakura grabbed another one of those rolls and she smiled at Syaoran. He smiled back. Sakura was trying hard to suppress a large fit of giggles, Syaoran noted. He danced with whomever he was dancing with much slower, trying to find out why. When Sakura left with Ichiro, who had gotten them drinks, Takashi's voice reached his ears.

"Syaoran..._stop_."

He turned his head forward to find his so-called dance partner at the moment. '_Oops_...' Syaoran released his hands from Takashi, who was staring at him weirdly.

"You look..."

"What? A bit...too _happy_?"

"Nope. I was going for...hmmm, _enchanted_..." Takashi corrected him, eyeing him suspiciously all the while.

"Er, go find yourself another dance partner," Syaoran said as he searched around for Sakura. '_Darn it, where did they go?_'

His cell phone suddenly rang and he quickly picked it up. "Moshi moshi."

"...Seriously! Okay, I'll be there."

- **Upstairs** -

Sakura stood with Ichiro up above on the second floor, overlooking the party. She smiled at him. "They really enjoyed your cake. Thanks for it, by the way. It was cute."

"I broke up with Yuuhi," Ichiro confessed. Sakura, who was in the middle of downing a cup of water, nearly choked. "_What_?"

"Are you happy, Sakura?" He asked. She nodded. "I'm _extremely_ happy! ...today."

"I promise you, Sakura...I can make you happy forever," Ichiro said, gazing at her with a soft expression. "Come to Hong Kong with me. It's where you've always wanted to go, right? It's just a trip, but I promise you'll be happy."

"Um..." Sakura suddenly thought about Syaoran and felt reluctant...no—_REALLY_ reluctant to leave him.

"Think about it, please?" Ichiro begged.

"I..." Sakura started to say. Ichiro pulled her close and leaned in to kiss her. Sakura tried to struggle out without making it seem like she was pushing him away. She bit her lip as he came closer...and closer...his lips were only inches from hers when, to her luck, her cell phone rang. '_Thank you, whoever that just called me_.'

"Oh, sorry," Sakura apologized as she picked up her phone. "Moshi moshi."

"...Syao—What! Okay, okay, I'll be there as soon as possible," Sakura flipped her phone shut and turned to Ichiro. "Sorry, I have to go somewhere. It's really, really urgent. See you later, Ichiro."

And with that, she ran away from the confused Ichiro, who looked around at the guests below, suspecting that Syaoran interrupted their moment. Sakura, however, had other things on her mind... '_Of course! I can't believe I didn't wonder where he went! He wasn't here at my party and I didn't even notice! Moouuu, what kind of friend am I?_'

-.-.-.-.-.-

Grr, it's still so short...

I'll really, really _try_ to update but band camp has started so...we'll see. I just want to finish this story before school starts! Eeeek. x.x

-hint hint- Syaoran _does_ give Sakura a present though. Try guessing what it is. XP By the way Jacqueline, you can't say. XD


	8. Chapter 8

Ahh I'm so sore & slightly sunburnt. :( Sad. Anyways. That is what band camp does to you. It's only 4 days when I started writing this chapter so I'm not _too_ tan. :) I wish they gave us more time to reapply sunscreen. Grr.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hurry!" Syaoran shouted as he grabbed Sakura's hand when she finally made it outside the restaurant. He set off on a sprint, pulling Sakura with him. Sakura was trying to catch up without getting her right arm dislocated. "Mou, SLOW DOWN, SYAORAN!"

"No time!" The amber eyed cook shouted. Finally, in about five minutes, he skidded to a halt in front of a white apartment and dragged Sakura through the front doors with him. They ran to the elevators and pressed the button. Looking at the meter above the elevator, it was still on the 14th floor.

"AAARGH!" Syaoran yelled impatiently. '_He's only on the 4th floor..._' Quickly, he grabbed Sakura's wrist again and he ran up the stairs, pulling her with him. Finally, they got to the 4th floor in less than a minute and, without further ado, he found the door and kicked it open. Sakura smacked him upside the head from behind. "Idiot! You're so rude!"

Sakura's anger faded away as she saw a gloomy Eriol making noodles. He looked up sadly from his noodles at them and beckoned them to sit down. When he finished cooking, he served them each a bowl of noodles and sat down in front of them with his own bowl. After that, he poured three cups of wine (The wine bottle was already on the table) and took a deep breath.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Tomoyo loved dancing salsa," Eriol said as Sakura sipped her soup. The table was now filled with five empty wine bottles. "But when we married, there was no time for it. I'd always tell her that we'll dance when all the business settles and we get used to living here. There was still no time...so I told her that after I retire and after she came out of the hospital we'll throw a huge party on our 20th anniversary. Just wait... '_the chemotherapy will heal you..._' But now, I'm retired, it's our anniversary...but she couldn't wait."

Sakura looked at him with teary eyes and reached out a hand to pat Eriol's. He continued. "She'd always wear long, stunning crimson red dresses...with a V-neck...and sleeves that ended to her elbows with some cloth trailing behind the sleeves. The bottom of the dress always ended at her knees in front and at her ankles in the back and...I just really miss her."

-.-.-.-.-.-

"She was like my shadow," Eriol said as he moved across his living room, holding an imaginary Tomoyo in his arms as Sakura choked on her tears. He was almost done reminiscing on all the memories he's had with Tomoyo. "She knew exactly what to do when I moved a finger...I used to think I married her because she was one woman I could live with..."

Syaoran watched as Sakura continued to sob. '_I want to just...hold her and make sure she's alright...but that's too awkward! Well, friends do that too, right?_' Slowly and uncertainly, he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. Luckily, she needed the comfort and didn't flinch, but only relaxed.

"...but when I was dancing alone with her...I realized...that she is my only partner," Eriol stopped dancing around with the imaginary Tomoyo and stood in the middle of the room, looking melancholy. A single tear slid down his cheek as he said, "I realized that I married her because she was the one woman I can't live without."

-.-.-.-.-.-

To help cheer him up, Sakura tried to dance with Eriol. It was hard for her since he was much better at salsa than she was, but she managed to keep up. While they danced, Syaoran looked at the many pictures lined up on Eriol's wall. Most of all the pictures consisted of Eriol dancing with a raven haired woman. The camera's flash brought out her amethyst eyes. Tomoyo was indeed a beauty. Just then, Sakura came up to him, breathless. She was red from trying to keep up with Eriol's pace and was panting hard.

"Hey, you. Go dance with Eriol. I'm too tired and he's lonely," Sakura breathed. Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "_What_?"

"What's wrong? You danced with Takashi," Sakura laughed.

"That was...an accident."

"Go!" Sakura pushed Syaoran to Eriol and giggled when Eriol took control. They were both laughing at Syaoran. '_Eriol seems happier...for now. I'm glad._'

After what seemed like hours, Eriol announced that he was tired, sluggishly crawled onto his couch, and fell asleep. Syaoran then turned to Sakura, chuckling. "Now that we're both warmed up, may I have the last dance?"

Sakura scoffed, but nodded. "Okay, sure."

She took his outstretched hand and he led her out to the middle of the living room. Because they were both tired from dancing salsa at an extremely high tempo, they started a waltz instead. Syaoran intertwined his fingers with Sakura's and held her waist with the other hand. Sakura's other hand rested between Syaoran's shoulder and neck. While dancing, Syaoran turned to look at Eriol. "He's gonna have a _big_ hangover tomorrow..."

"No kidding," Sakura giggled.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Yeah?"

"Want to come over to my place? I have to show you something."

"Mmm...Mmkay. Sure."

-.-.-.-.-.-

"Moou, Syaoran, it's cold!" Sakura shivered as they walked to Syaoran's apartment. Without speaking, Syaoran used his enormous jacket to cover the both of them. Sakura snuggled closer, shuddering all the way. "Arigatou, Syao-kun."

Ten minutes later, they arrived into the warm and welcoming apartment room of Syaoran's. Sakura looked around the place. "You were going to show me something?"

Syaoran nodded. "I got you a present."

"You did! You never told me that...Oh well! I like surprises!" Sakura chirped as she explored his home. She noticed a pole like figure near the corner of the room. She strode over to it, asking, "What's this?"

"I just hang from it for 20 minutes. Gets the blood going, you know?" Sakura was confused by the appearance but Syaoran obviously knew what to do. He somehow climbed up and hung down from the top. His upside-down face was now facing Sakura's right-side up one. Sakura laughed, "It's like...what was it? Spiderlan?"

"It's Spiderman," Syaoran said upside-down. "Get your English right. Or maybe you drank too much wine at Eriol's?"

"Well, sorry. Now where's my present?" Sakura asked, glaring inches away from his upside-down face. Syaoran pointed behind her. "It's on the couch."

Sakura excitedly ran over to the couch at the end of the room and found a basket loosely tied with a red ribbon. Syaoran quickly got down and followed her. He kneeled on the floor next to the couch, pulled on the ribbon to untie it, and placed his hands on the lid of the basket. Slowly, he lifted the lid up, saying, "Surprise!"

Sakura gasped in astonishment at what she was now staring at. A blond Pomeranian was staring back up at her. Still shocked, she picked it up from the basket and placed it in her lap. It was now barking sharply and wagging its tail. Sakura cuddled it. "Aww, he's so adorable!"

"Yep, isn't he?" Syaoran took him into his own hands and cuddled it in turn. When he placed it back into the basket, he sat down on the couch next to Sakura.

"Oh, thank you, Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck. He tried to keep his cheeks un-crimson as he said, "You're welcome."

Syaoran could no longer keep his cheeks the same color when he felt Sakura's lips brush against his cheeks. '_It's only as friends right? Friends do that sometimes...Judging by her non-color-changing face, it is._'

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sakura yelled as she squeezed the life out of Syaoran. "Sa-ku-ra, let—go!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Sakura apologized as she released her grip. Her arms were still around his neck, but _much_ looser than before. "It's alright."

Syaoran's head was turned away from her the whole time, partly because he could hardly breathe, and partly because he didn't want Sakura to notice anything in case he blushed darker, but when he turned back around, he found himself staring into emerald orbs. Without thinking, his face inched closer to Sakura than ever before...until he could see every eyelash upon her eyelids and his lips pressed against hers. He could feel her melting into their very first kiss, but when he did, he seemed to finally realize what he just did. He broke away and bit his lip. "Sorry...I didn't mean—"

Sakura yelped, "No!" before he finished his sentence. Before he could ask what the problem was, Sakura's lips captured his again. '_What a cute way to kiss someone. Surprise them, then kiss them. Right, Sakura..._'

He decided to risk it. After all, she probably _was_ feeling a bit queasy from all that wine at Eriol's house. So maybe she really didn't like him at all? She was just drunk? Oh well...Nervously, he slowly slid his tongue across her lips and she opened them to allow entrance.

Reluctantly, Syaoran broke apart. This isn't right. He felt like he was taking advantage of Sakura drunk. But then _she_ had kissed him too. But _she_ had a boyfriend. '_She loves Ichiro. She's just out of it right now._' Surely enough, after five minutes of Syaoran's thinking, he felt a thump on his shoulder. He looked down to see Sakura fast asleep. He smirked as an idea came into his head. She was wearing a spaghetti strap under the jacket she had just taken off. He took out his camera and took a picture of her from the right angle so that her straps weren't showing. '_This will be a laugh..._'

-.-.-.-.-.-

Sakura turned around in the bed, yawning. When she stretched, her left arm knocked into something...or someone? Her eyes shot open and she looked at what she hit. Syaoran. She wasn't in her jacket, but in her spaghetti strap. Panicking, she fidgeted in her bed until she realized she was in a separate blanket. '_Oh, phew. Where'd my jacket go? I don't remember where it went...in the living room? Hmm..._'

_Brrrrring! Brrrrring! Brrrrring!_

Sakura quickly pulled her blanket over herself and covered her entire body, looking much like an Eskimo as the alarm clock on Syaoran's bedside table rang. _Brrrrring!_ She glanced around nervously, wishing she could be anywhere but here. _Brrrrring!_ A hand knocked into her back. "Oh, sorry," mumbled a disgruntled voice. Like lightning, Sakura leapt out of bed and grabbed her shoes and jacket, which she found on the floor next to Kero. '_I'll have to come back for Kero,_' She thought as she tripped over her blanket when running to retrieve her jacket.

"Where are you going?" Syaoran asked. _Brrrrring!_

"Uhh, uhh, yoga class!" Sakura made up hastily and wobbled out of the bedroom door and to the front door.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Hmm, so Sakura's pretty much between two guys now. Hmm...review to find out what happens. Err, how it happens I guess.

Darn, the chapters are all getting shorter...and shorter...the next one will be really short too. -- Oh well. I made the first few longer maybe. Ha ha. Oh well.


	9. Chapter 9

Last chapter folks. And school is almost starting. Just in time. Sorry I rushed it. I just wanted to finish before school. :) Wow, this is actually gonna be my first ever _finished_ fiction. XP

-.-.-.-.-.-

"_I'm not looking to change the world... I just want to be loved by the right person."_

-.-.-.-.-.-

After cleaning up, brushing her teeth, showering, and what not, Sakura walked into a nearby café and sat down for a cup of coffee. When her cell phone rang, she lazily picked it up and answered it. "Moshi moshi."

"Sakura, have you thought about what I said?" asked Ichiro's voice.

"W-what?" Sakura blanked out.

"About that trip to Hong Kong!"

"Uhh..." Truthfully, she hadn't. But for some reason, she could care less. She got another call just then and said, "Hold on, let me put you on hold for a moment."

She pressed 'flash' and said, "Moshi moshi."

"Sakura?" came Syaoran's voice. "Look, about yesterday...you fell asleep so I had no choice but to just let you sleep here. But really, nothing happened so don't worry about it. -Pause- I know things seem impossible right now, but love is actually very simple."

"Yesterday was just a tide of rising emotions...I err, am afraid of getting seasick."

'_Her humor is always so cute._' Syaoran nodded, even though she could not see him. "Well, meet me at the restaurant at 3 anyways." Sakura heard him hang up and she then hesitantly pressed the 'flash' button again. "Hello? Ichiro? You there?"

"You haven't thought about it have you...? Sakura, I won't take 'no' for an answer. Meet me at the restaurant at 3." End tone...sighing, Sakura flipped her phone shut. '_At least they asked to meet at the same place..._'

She glanced at her watch. 1:36 PM. Great, she had time to visit Rika.

-.-.-.-.-.-

As Sakura turned a corner to the waiting room of the hospital, she saw Rika holding a bundle of blankets—her baby obviously—walking over Terada. She smiled when Terada pulled out his camera phone and took pictures of them with the newborn baby. Taking pictures just reminded her of Syaoran. She sighed, wishing she had someone special like Rika did.

She watched them fret and rejoice over the baby for a few minutes. Finally, she turned around and left. Even though she wanted to congratulate Rika, she didn't want to interrupt such a precious moment of one of her best friend's life.

-.-.-.-.-.-

She walked around the place, thinking through everything in her head. '_I thought I'd be so elated to even hear that Ichiro wanted to take me to Hong Kong. But now, I just feel distraught. Because...I don't know. But I keep thinking about Syaoran when I think about Ichiro. Grr...what was that yesterday anyways? I shouldn't have done that because I already have Ichiro! Speaking of Ichiro..._'

As the thought cycle kept going through her head, she stopped hesitantly in front of the restaurant. It was only 2:30. Perhaps she could make some coffee to get her mind off all her current thoughts. At least for the moment...

Sakura unlocked the back door to the kitchen and she went straight to the coffee maker. She counted 55 beans and started her coffee making. Fortunately, it was a Sunday, so the restaurant was supposedly closed. When she finished, she sighed after taking a nice tongue-swirled swallow of her famous espresso. She sat at a table, drinking her stress away.

"Sakura." She turned at the sound of her name. From where she was sitting, she saw Chiharu looking down at her. She breathed in deeply, calming herself down from being interrupted during her stress-killing moment. "Yeah?"

"Ichiro's here to see you. Second floor. You know where."

Sakura sighed and got up. "Can you wash this mug for me? Thanks," Sakura said without waiting for a reply. Leaving her cup on the table, she walked up the stairs to the second floor of the restaurant and out onto the balcony. (A/N: Yes, there's a balcony. XP) Ichiro turned at the sound of the door to the balcony opening. He smiled when he saw Sakura close the doors and stand next to him. '_My heart's not beating as fast as it **used** to when I'm around him..._'

Ichiro handed her a small package. Sakura stared at him curiously as she slowly took it from him. She undid the ribbons around the wrapped long box and began to silently tear the wrapping paper away at a snail's pace. She found a brand new Hello Kitty toothbrush in her hands and she found herself forcing a smile. Ichiro also smiled, not noticing how fake her smile was. "It's the newest model here in Japan. I'm sorry I couldn't find your old one, hence the new toothbrush."

"Thank you." Sakura quietly breathed.

"I used to be afraid of missing out on the world...so my car is from Italy, my suitcase is from China, and all my shoes from America. Therefore...I really want you to come to Hong Kong with me. I know it'll make you happy. You've always wanted to go there."

Oblivious to the couple, Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko were outside, hiding behind the wall perpendicular to the balcony, peeking and eavesdropping on Sakura and Ichiro. Chiharu whispered, "They are _so_ going to break up!"

"I second that!" Takashi whispered. Eriol walked up from behind them, smirking. "No, they're definitely staying together."

"I'm with Eriol on that one!" Naoko spoke softly, though excited. Eriol walked back into the kitchen after that. He was only coming every once in awhile to check out if he'll win the bet or not, of course.

(A/N: Back to Sakura...)

"Yes, I have," Sakura admitted. Ichiro's face brightened. "So that means you'll come with me right? ("They are so going to break up!" Chiharu cried out as silent as possible. "No they aren't," Eriol replied, coming back out. "Yes they will!" Takashi said as Eriol walked back into the kitchen.) "I want to try it, Sakura. Just me and you."

Sakura breathed deeply. '_**Try** it.. **Try**? I totally understand what Rika was trying to tell me now..._' (Chapter 2) She shook her head, thinking of Syaoran all of a sudden. "I know I'm important to you because I understand you. That's all well and good...but there's one flaw in this relationship. You don't understand me one bit. I used to be afraid of speaking up. I had no guts to really talk to you. I was too afraid to lose you. So you don't even know the _real_ me. The _real_ me isn't shy and not _that_ giggly. The _real_ me is different from anything you know about me. I just want someone who will love me for who I _truly_ am. Not some fake façade because I'm too shy to show my true self. I've learned a lot from Eriol,—my retired boss, by the way—a relationship isn't just being with whoever _happens_ to be around. I believe that it should mean being with the one person who you can't live _without_." ("See? She's going our way so far!" Chiharu whispered.)

Ichiro looked down, thinking through all that Sakura just said. He looked up at a clinking sound of metal lightly clashing together. Before meeting Sakura's eyes, he locked his gaze on the spare keys he gave Sakura. He looked ruefully and sadly at them when he saw the key on a keychain along with a second keychain, which lead to a squishy sponge red heart. (A/N: Those kinds of squishy things where you squish them and they inflate back up to the regular shape or something.) '_She loved me so much and I didn't pay any attention to her at all...and now when I do, she doesn't love me anymore..._'

Sakura smiled sadly and walked away from him and back into the building, leaving Ichiro on the balcony to his thoughts. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Chiharu and Takashi looking excited at a table with a disgruntled Eriol and Naoko. "Thank you, Sakura!" Takashi called out to her and he crumpled the money firmly in his hands. Sakura scoffed. "What is going on?"

Naoko had a look on her face as if Sakura tricked her. "I'm _never_ betting on you again."

Sakura shrugged it off when Chiharu also thanked her and all the cooks but Eriol left. He smirked and nudged Sakura to look at the direction he was pointing at. She saw a fairly large picture of herself. "Hmm...where you naked when you took this picture? Or maybe you had shoes on?"

She laughed it off after seeing it. It took her a bit to remember where the picture came from. '_I'm going to murder Syaoran for taking that picture at such an angle! At least show just a tinsy bit of the spaghetti strap I was wearing._'

Eriol nudged her in a new direction. Sakura obeyed and turned to see Syaoran smiling. She returned the smile and slowly walked up to him as Eriol slipped quietly into the kitchen. In a few seconds, unbeknownst to Sakura and Syaoran, Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko stealthily appeared with Eriol to peek in on them. Sakura seemed to be too lost in her own world with Syaoran to notice. It appeared to be the same for him.

"Err, I just wanted you to know that no matter what, Sakura," Syaoran started to say. "You'll always be my 'special one.'"

Sakura blushed as Syaoran continued. "I just knew after shopping for that necklace. I mean, maybe I was already starting to fall for you before, I think, but after I saw your smile when you tried on that necklace, it just hit me like a ton of bricks: I can't, and would never want to live _without_ that smile."

Sakura was leaning closer, without noticing at all. Syaoran caressed her cheek with one hand and was about to lock his lips with hers when Sakura suddenly yelped. "Hold on. Charades."

Sakura pointed at Syaoran and made some flashy movement with her hands. Syaoran looked at her, confused. Sakura continued doing what she was trying to show him. After five tries, Syaoran shrugged, trying his last guess. "You think I'm cold? It looks like you're shivering..."

"Chicken skin!" Eriol suddenly cried out from behind the doors of the kitchen. Syaoran looked at him and turned back to Sakura. "You think I'm made of chicken skin?"

"No!" Sakura smiled. "I think you're amazing."

Syaoran smirked and drew nearer when he stopped this time. "My turn."

He made himself imaginary ears and brought the back of his wrists to his face, his hands drooping down. He made a mock bark and jerked his head to the left. Sakura stared at him funnily as Syaoran kept jerking his head to the left. When Sakura turned left, she saw a Pomeranian excitedly bounce out of the kitchen, barking piercingly. "Kero!" She bent down and picked him up. Syaoran took Kero from her and showed her the collar he put on Kero. It was the cherry blossom necklace Sakura tried on.

"Special delivery," Syaoran beamed as he unlocked the necklace from the ecstatic Pomeranian, placed Kero on the floor to bark around them, and fastened the necklace around Sakura. Her eyes widened as he did so and she looked down at the charm on the necklace. She returned a toothy grin and hugged Syaoran hard. Finally, he caught her lips as Chiharu sighed romantically from behind with Kero barking in the background.

Naoko smiled sheepishly. "Good thing I didn't bet _this_ time."

Syaoran enveloped Sakura in his arms around her waist and she tangled her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as Eriol pulled Chiharu, Takashi, and Naoko back into the kitchen, leaving the new couple to themselves in their own little world.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'd like to order the rice with duck blood, please," A man in his thirties announced, placing down his menu. He was wearing a sleek, black tuxedo and was sitting across his wife, who was wearing a long scarlet dress.

Sakura hesitated guiltily and smiled. "Um, sorry...but we don't offer that here anymore. Perhaps you'd like to try something much more exciting? Maybe...the Ice Mountain on Fire? Our finest cook Li Syaoran is demonstrating it right over there." Sakura pointed to a corner where Syaoran was lighting a small cake on fire. The customers—or audience—gasped in surprise as the fire grew larger until Syaoran urged them to blow it out. When they did, the fire was out, and the cake was just as icy as it was before. The customer with Sakura turned back to face her. "Yes, I think we will have that."

Sakura nodded happily and took the menus from the man and his wife. She caught Syaoran's eye and winked, letting him know there was yet another couple who wanted to try his trick. They went back into the kitchen, and came back out five minutes later with a small cake identical to the one earlier and placed it between the husband and wife. "Ready?" Syaoran asked them all. When they nodded, he lit it on fire as the wife squeeled, shocked to see it up so close.

"Well? Blow it out!" Syaoran ordered, and they all leaned in to put the fire out.

Sakura smiled. With Syaoran, the restaurant will definitely be successful, as will her love life. She'll have someone who understands her, someone who she'll have a great time with, someone who will cooperate with her, someone who will cook with her, someone who will laugh with her…and _most importantly_, someone who she _can't_ live without.

**The End.**

-.-.-.-.-.-

-Gasp- I finished a fanfiction. Lol. Isn't this story just cute? Yes, it is. :) Thanks for the reviews and everything. I appreciate it lots. I'm just thankful that some of you actually put up with my story and read it. I'm not so great at writing because good descriptions always slip my mind before I write about it. xx

Now...school will start soon. Eeeek. Haha.

Love, "_Vywien is me_"


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